An influence diagram for urban flood risk assessment through pluvial flood hazards under non-stationary conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Åström, Helena Lisa Alexandra; Friis Hansen, P.; Garrè, Luca

2014-01-01

Urban flooding introduces significant risk to society. Non-stationarity leads to increased uncertainty and this is challenging to include in actual decision-making. The primary objective of this study was to develop a risk assessment and decision support framework for pluvial urban flood risk under...... non-stationary conditions using an influence diagram (ID) which is a Bayesian network (BN) extended with decision and utility nodes. Non-stationarity is considered to be the influence of climate change where extreme precipitation patterns change over time. The overall risk is quantified in monetary...... terms expressed as expected annual damage. The network is dynamic in as much as it assesses risk at different points in time. The framework provides means for decision-makers to assess how different decisions on flood adaptation affect the risk now and in the future. The result from the ID was extended...

Risk, Robustness and Water Resources Planning Under Uncertainty

Science.gov (United States)

Borgomeo, Edoardo; Mortazavi-Naeini, Mohammad; Hall, Jim W.; Guillod, Benoit P.

2018-03-01

Risk-based water resources planning is based on the premise that water managers should invest up to the point where the marginal benefit of risk reduction equals the marginal cost of achieving that benefit. However, this cost-benefit approach may not guarantee robustness under uncertain future conditions, for instance under climatic changes. In this paper, we expand risk-based decision analysis to explore possible ways of enhancing robustness in engineered water resources systems under different risk attitudes. Risk is measured as the expected annual cost of water use restrictions, while robustness is interpreted in the decision-theoretic sense as the ability of a water resource system to maintain performance—expressed as a tolerable risk of water use restrictions—under a wide range of possible future conditions. Linking risk attitudes with robustness allows stakeholders to explicitly trade-off incremental increases in robustness with investment costs for a given level of risk. We illustrate the framework through a case study of London's water supply system using state-of-the -art regional climate simulations to inform the estimation of risk and robustness.

An application of a hydraulic model simulator in flood risk assessment under changing climatic conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Doroszkiewicz, J. M.; Romanowicz, R. J.

2016-12-01

The standard procedure of climate change impact assessment on future hydrological extremes consists of a chain of consecutive actions, starting from the choice of GCM driven by an assumed CO2 scenario, through downscaling of climatic forcing to a catchment scale, estimation of hydrological extreme indices using hydrological modelling tools and subsequent derivation of flood risk maps with the help of a hydraulic model. Among many possible sources of uncertainty, the main are the uncertainties related to future climate scenarios, climate models, downscaling techniques and hydrological and hydraulic models. Unfortunately, we cannot directly assess the impact of these different sources of uncertainties on flood risk in future due to lack of observations of future climate realizations. The aim of this study is an assessment of a relative impact of different sources of uncertainty on the uncertainty of flood risk maps. Due to the complexity of the processes involved, an assessment of total uncertainty of maps of inundation probability might be very computer time consuming. As a way forward we present an application of a hydraulic model simulator based on a nonlinear transfer function model for the chosen locations along the river reach. The transfer function model parameters are estimated based on the simulations of the hydraulic model at each of the model cross-sections. The study shows that the application of a simulator substantially reduces the computer requirements related to the derivation of flood risk maps under future climatic conditions. Biala Tarnowska catchment, situated in southern Poland is used as a case study. Future discharges at the input to a hydraulic model are obtained using the HBV model and climate projections obtained from the EUROCORDEX project. The study describes a cascade of uncertainty related to different stages of the process of derivation of flood risk maps under changing climate conditions. In this context it takes into account the

Risk of Incidence of Hock Burn and Pododermatitis in Broilers Reared under Commercial Conditions

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FG Jacob

Full Text Available ABSTRACT The most common lesions observed in commercial broiler farms are hock burns and pododermatitis, defined as necrotic lesions on the plantar surface of the footpads and in the hock of growing broilers, causing pain and compromising broiler welfare. The present study aimed at identifying the risks of hock burns and pododermatitis in broilers reared under commercial conditions on new or reused litter. Twenty-four 40-d-old broilers reared in two houses in a commercial broiler farm. The plantar surface of the footpads and the hocks of broiler were recorded using infrared thermal images. The incidence of hock burns in broilers reared on new litter was 0.72 times lower than those on reused litter. Broilers reared on new litter presented lower risk (0.75, RR<1 of presenting pododermatitis when compared to those reared on reused litter. When simulating the risk using a larger sample, the simulated risk of broilers presenting footpad and hock lesions when reared on new litter was 38% higher those reared on reused litter.

Stochastic optimization under risk constraint and utility functions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seck, B.

2008-09-01

In a context of concurrence and emergence of energy markets, the production of electricity is affected by the new sources of risks which are the price variations on the energy markets. These new sources of risks generate a new risk: the market risk. In this research, the author explores the possibility of introducing constraints, expressed by measurements of risk, into the process of optimization of electricity production when financial contracts are signed on the energy market. The author makes the distinction between the engineering approach (taking the risk into account by risk measurements) and the economist approach (taking the risk into account by utility functions). After an overview of these both approaches in a static framework, he gives an economical formulation (a Maccheroni type one) for a static optimization problem under a risk constraint when the risk measurement is written under the form of an expected infimum like the variance, the 'conditional value at risk', and so on. The obtained results are then extended to a dynamic optimization framework under risk constraints. A numerical application of this approach is presented to solve a problem of electricity production management under a constraint of 'conditional value at risk' on a middle term

The uncertainty cascade in flood risk assessment under changing climatic conditions - the Biala Tarnowska case study

Science.gov (United States)

Doroszkiewicz, Joanna; Romanowicz, Renata

2016-04-01

Uncertainty in the results of the hydraulic model is not only associated with the limitations of that model and the shortcomings of data. An important factor that has a major impact on the uncertainty of the flood risk assessment in a changing climate conditions is associated with the uncertainty of future climate scenarios (IPCC WG I, 2013). Future climate projections provided by global climate models are used to generate future runoff required as an input to hydraulic models applied in the derivation of flood risk maps. Biala Tarnowska catchment, situated in southern Poland is used as a case study. Future discharges at the input to a hydraulic model are obtained using the HBV model and climate projections obtained from the EUROCORDEX project. The study describes a cascade of uncertainty related to different stages of the process of derivation of flood risk maps under changing climate conditions. In this context it takes into account the uncertainty of future climate projections, an uncertainty of flow routing model, the propagation of that uncertainty through the hydraulic model, and finally, the uncertainty related to the derivation of flood risk maps. One of the aims of this study is an assessment of a relative impact of different sources of uncertainty on the uncertainty of flood risk maps. Due to the complexity of the process, an assessment of total uncertainty of maps of inundation probability might be very computer time consuming. As a way forward we present an application of a hydraulic model simulator based on a nonlinear transfer function model for the chosen locations along the river reach. The transfer function model parameters are estimated based on the simulations of the hydraulic model at each of the model cross-section. The study shows that the application of the simulator substantially reduces the computer requirements related to the derivation of flood risk maps under future climatic conditions. Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the

Degradation of three fungicides following application on strawberry and a risk assessment of their toxicity under greenhouse conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Caixia; Cang, Tao; Wang, Zhiwei; Wang, Xinquan; Yu, Ruixian; Wang, Qiang; Zhao, Xueping

2015-05-01

The health risk to humans of pesticide application on minor crops, such as strawberry, requires quantification. Here, the dissipation and residual levels of three fungicides (pyraclostrobin, myclobutanil, and difenoconazole) were studied for strawberry under greenhouse conditions using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-tandem mass spectrometry after Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe extraction. This method was validated using blank samples, with all mean recoveries of these three fungicides exceeding 80%. The residues of all three fungicides dissipated following first-order kinetics. The half-lives of pyraclostrobin, myclobutanil, and difenoconazole were 1.69, 3.30, and 3.65 days following one time application and 1.73, 5.78, and 6.30 days following two times applications, respectively. Fungicide residue was determined by comparing the estimated daily intake of the three fungicides against the acceptable daily intake. The results indicate that the potential health risk of the three fungicides was not significant in strawberry when following good agricultural practices (GAP) under greenhouse conditions.

Performance of Chickens under Semi-scavenging Conditions: A ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Performance of Chickens under Semi-scavenging Conditions: A Case Study of ... per household was lost per year due to diseases, predators, accidents, and theft. ... as well as chicken house construction so as to avoid the risks of predators.

Altered Decision-Making under Risk in Obesity.

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Juan F Navas

Full Text Available The negative consequences of energy dense foods are well known, yet people increasingly make unhealthy food choices leading to obesity (i.e., risky decisions. The aims of this study were: [1] to compare performance in decision-making tasks under risk and under ambiguity between individuals with obesity, overweight and normal weight; [2] to examine the associations between body mass index (BMI and decision-making, and the degree to which these associations are modulated by reward sensitivity.Seventy-nine adults were recruited and classified in three groups according to their BMI: obesity, overweight and normal-weight. Groups were similar in terms of age, education and socio-economic status, and were screened for comorbid medical and mental health conditions. Decision-making under risk was measured via the Wheel of Fortune Task (WoFT and decision-making under ambiguity via the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT. Reward sensitivity was indicated by the Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire (SPSRQ.Individuals with obesity made riskier choices in the WoFT, specifically in choices with an expected value close to zero and in the propensity to risk index. No differences were found in IGT performance or SPSRQ scores. BMI was associated with risk-taking (WoFT performance, independently of reward sensitivity.Obesity is linked to a propensity to make risky decisions in experimental conditions analogous to everyday food choices.

Ebola Virus Stability Under Hospital and Environmental Conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Westhoff Smith, Danielle; Hill-Batorski, Lindsay; N'jai, Alhaji; Eisfeld, Amie J; Neumann, Gabriele; Halfmann, Peter; Kawaoka, Yoshihiro

2016-10-15

The West African outbreak of Ebola virus (EBOV) is largely contained, but sporadic new cases continue to emerge. To assess the potential contribution of fomites to human infections with EBOV, we tested EBOV stability in human blood spotted onto Sierra Leonean banknotes and in syringe needles under hospital and environmental conditions. Under some of these conditions, EBOV remained infectious for >30 days, indicating that EBOV-contaminated items may pose a serious risk to humans. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, e-mail journals.permissions@oup.com.

Decision Making Under Objective Risk Conditions-a Review of Cognitive and Emotional Correlates, Strategies, Feedback Processing, and External Influences.

Science.gov (United States)

Schiebener, Johannes; Brand, Matthias

2015-06-01

While making decisions under objective risk conditions, the probabilities of the consequences of the available options are either provided or calculable. Brand et al. (Neural Networks 19:1266-1276, 2006) introduced a model describing the neuro-cognitive processes involved in such decisions. In this model, executive functions associated with activity in the fronto-striatal loop are important for developing and applying decision-making strategies, and for verifying, adapting, or revising strategies according to feedback. Emotional rewards and punishments learned from such feedback accompany these processes. In this literature review, we found support for the role of executive functions, but also found evidence for the importance of further cognitive abilities in decision making. Moreover, in addition to reflective processing (driven by cognition), decisions can be guided by impulsive processing (driven by anticipation of emotional reward and punishment). Reflective and impulsive processing may interact during decision making, affecting the evaluation of available options, as both processes are affected by feedback. Decision-making processes are furthermore modulated by individual attributes (e.g., age), and external influences (e.g., stressors). Accordingly, we suggest a revised model of decision making under objective risk conditions.

Potential Risk Analysis of Tailings Dam under Preloading Condition and Its Countermeasures

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Shuren Wang

2015-01-01

Full Text Available It is very important for mine production safety to ensure the stability of the tailings dam. Taking a flatland tailings pond as the background, a threedimensional computational model was built based on a tailings dam under mullock heap preloading condition. Considering the current operating water level conditions, a liquid-solid coupling analysis of the model was conducted.The deformation characteristics of the tailings dam were revealed during successive preloading at the front of the dam. The safety factor and the potential slide face of the tailings dam were calculated under different conditions using the strength reduction method. The results show that the tailings dam in its current condition is basically stable, but if the mullock heap continues to be heightened, the tailings dam will become unstable. Therefore, in order to limit the height of the mullock heap, establishing a monitor and early warning mechanism are put forward to ensure mine production safety.

Risk Management and Insurance Decisions under Ambiguity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Martínez-Correa, Jimmy

I study the impact of ambiguity on insurance decisions and the optimality of insurance contracts. My tractable approach allows me to study the interaction between risk and ambiguity attitudes. When insurance decisions are made independently of other assets, for a given increase in wealth, both risk...... portfolio theory that assumes Subjective Expected Utility theory; however, it provides hints to a possible solution of the under-diversification puzzle of households. I also identify conditions under which more risk or ambiguity aversion decreases the demand for coinsurance. Additionally, I show...... a counterexample to a classical result in insurance economics where an insurance contract with straight deductible is dominated by a coinsurance contract. Finally, I find that a modified Borch rule characterizes the optimal insurance contract with bilateral risk and ambiguity attitudes and heterogeneity in beliefs....

Coordination of Regional Structures’ Interests Concerning Investment Resources of Educational Services of Enterprises under High-Risk Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Semchuk Zhanna V.

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The development of professional education in the context of interaction with the labor market has been analyzed and inconsistencies of professional and economic nature have been revealed. Reasons for the imbalance in the structure of the market for labor and education have been identified, and it was noted that they have a negative impact on the economic security of educational institutions and cause the accumulation of negative factors as well. Elements of foreign experience in forecasting economic development and associated with it changes in educational services with regard to high-risk conditions have been considered for the purpose of its application in Ukraine. A conceptual model of information technology for coordination of regional structures’ interests concerning investment resources of educational services of enterprises under high-risk conditions has been proposed. The information technology is based on the econometric model for optimizing enterprise Internet payment systems, criterion of hierarchical games theories, multiobjective optimization, active systems, the model for diagnosing internal and external threats to the economic security of the educational institution; means and methodology of the system-value approach; algorithms for recognition of crisis situations; the optimization model for forecasting crisis situations and managing risk as well as the decision-making system for coordination of regional structures’ interests concerning investment resources based on the model of a program-designtarget complex

Potential of wind turbines to elicit seizures under various meteorological conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Smedley, Andrew R D; Webb, Ann R; Wilkins, Arnold J

2010-07-01

To determine the potential risk of epileptic seizures from wind turbine shadow flicker under various meteorologic conditions. We extend a previous model to include attenuation of sunlight by the atmosphere using the libradtran radiative transfer code. Under conditions in which observers look toward the horizon with their eyes open we find that there is risk when the observer is closer than 1.2 times the total turbine height when on land, and 2.8 times the total turbine height in marine environments, the risk limited by the size of the image of the sun's disc on the retina. When looking at the ground, where the shadow of the blade is cast, observers are at risk only when at a distance turbines rotate at a rate below that at which the flicker is likely to present a risk, although there is a risk from smaller turbines that interrupt sunlight more than three times per second. For the scenarios considered, we find the risk is negligible at a distance more than about nine times the maximum height reached by the turbine blade, a distance similar to that in guidance from the United Kingdom planning authorities.

Crash risk analysis during fog conditions using real-time traffic data.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Yina; Abdel-Aty, Mohamed; Lee, Jaeyoung

2018-05-01

This research investigates the changes of traffic characteristics and crash risks during fog conditions. Using real-time traffic flow and weather data at two regions in Florida, the traffic patterns at the fog duration were compared to the traffic patterns at the clear duration. It was found that the average 5-min speed and the average 5-min volume were prone to decreasing during fog. Based on previous studies, a "Crash Risk Increase Indicator (CRII)" was proposed to explore the differences of crash risk between fog and clear conditions. A binary logistic regression model was applied to link the increase of crash risks with traffic flow characteristics. The results suggested that the proposed indicator worked well in evaluating the increase of crash risk under fog condition. It was indicated that the crash risk was prone to increase at ramp vicinities in fog conditions. Also, the average 5-min volume during fog and the lane position are important factors for crash risk increase. The differences between the regions were also explored in this study. The results indicated that the locations with heavier traffic or locations at the lanes that were closest to the median in Region 2 were more likely to observe an increase in crash risks in fog conditions. It is expected that the proposed indicator can help identify the dangerous traffic status under fog conditions and then proper ITS technologies can be implemented to enhance traffic safety when the visibility declines. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Adsorption and degradation of sulfadiazine and sulfamethoxazole in an agricultural soil system under an anaerobic condition: Kinetics and environmental risks.

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Genxiang; Zhang, Yu; Hu, Shuangqing; Zhang, Hongchang; Yuan, Zhejun; Zhang, Wei

2018-03-01

Sulfonamides, one of the commonest antibiotics, were widely used on humans and livestock to control pathema and bacterial infections resulting in further environmental risks. The present study evaluated the adsorption and degradation of sulfadiazine (SDZ) and sulfamethoxazole (SMX) in an agricultural soil system under an anaerobic condition. Low sorption coefficients (K d , 1.22 L kg -1 for SDZ and 1.23 L kg -1 for SMX) obtained from Freundlich isotherms experiment indicated that poor sorption of both antibiotics may pose a high risk to environment due to their high mobility and possibility of entering surface and ground water. Degradation occurred at a lower rate under the anaerobic environment, where both two antibiotics had higher persistence in sterile and non-sterile soils with degradation ratio  20 d. Additionally, the addition of manure slightly increased degradation rates of SDZ and SMX, but there were no significant differences between single and repeated manure application at a later stage (p > 0.05), which suggested that the degradation was affected by both biotic and abiotic factors. Degradation rates would be slower at a higher concentration, indicating that degradation kinetics of SDZ and SMX were dependent on initial concentrations. During the degradation period, the antibiotics removal may change temperature, pH, sulfate and nitrate in soil, which suggested that the variation of antibiotics concentrations was related to the changes of soil physicochemical properties. An equation was proposed to elucidate the link between adsorption and degradation under different conditions, and to predict potential environmental risks of antibiotics. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hydrogen jet recombination under postulated LMFBR accident conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wierman, R.W.

1977-01-01

Certain conditions may be postulated in LMFBR risk assessments for which the potential of hydrogen release to the reactor containment building needs to be evaluated. The inherent self-ignition characteristics of hydrogen jets entering the air atmosphere of the reactor containment building should be understood for such analyses. If hydrogen jets were to self-ignite (recombine) at the source where they enter the reactor containment building, then undesirable hydrogen accumulation would not occur. Therefore, experiments have been conducted investigating the phenomena associated with the recombination of hydrogen jets under conditions similar to those postulated for LMFBR studies. The data presented define the conditions required for self-ignition of the hydrogen jets

CITRICULTURE ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL EVALUATION UNDER CONDITIONS OF UNCERTAINTY

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DANILO SIMÕES

2015-12-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT The citriculture consists in several environmental risks, as weather changes and pests, and also consists in considerable financial risk, mainly due to the period ofreturn on the initial investment. This study was motivated by the need to assess the risks of a business activity such as citriculture. Our objective was to build a stochastic simulation model to achieve the economic and financial analysis of an orange producer in the Midwest region of the state of Sao Paulo, under conditions of uncertainty. The parameters used were the Net Present Value (NPV, the Modified Internal Rate of Return(MIRR, and the Discounted Payback. To evaluate the risk conditions we built a probabilistic model of pseudorandom numbers generated with Monte Carlo method. The results showed that the activity analyzed provides a risk of 42.8% to reach a NPV negative; however, the yield assessed by MIRR was 7.7%, higher than the yield from the reapplication of the positive cash flows. The financial investment pays itself after the fourteenth year of activity.

Risk based lifetime assessment of piping under creep-fatigue conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bielak, O.; Bina, V.; Korous, J.

2003-01-01

The analysis of the steam pipeline lifetime is based on: (i) technical procedures supplied by Nuclear Electric R5; (ii) random interpretation of material damage accumulation laws for creep and fatigue; (iii) a stochastic model of the creep process (creep rupture strength, deformation characteristics); (iv) probabilistic description of geometrical quantities of the steam pipeline. The probabilistic procedure results in the calculation of the crack initiation risks both for the critical localities and for the steam pipeline as a whole (its subsystems, if need be). The residual lifetime was calculated from the conditional (a posteriori) probabilities. The risks of crack initiation was calculated for different operating periods (inspection frequency), and the periods were optimised to meet (i) the minimum risk of crack initiation and (2) the operation and economy criteria. The method also involves calculation of the residual lifetime from the updated data (material properties, dimensions). In the standard service-life calculations there is no difference between the weld and BM, the justification being that the weld is exposed to axial stress caused by internal pressure, which is one half of the hoop stress. Thus, the low creep resistant properties of the weld were ignored, as well as the uneven state of stress and its redistribution. In a number of cases it is the welds that are a weak point and therefore should receive considerable attention. The probabilistic method of lifetime and reliability assessment was verified on over 29 piping systems in power and petrochemical plants

Exploiting risk-reward structures in decision making under uncertainty.

Science.gov (United States)

Leuker, Christina; Pachur, Thorsten; Hertwig, Ralph; Pleskac, Timothy J

2018-06-01

People often have to make decisions under uncertainty-that is, in situations where the probabilities of obtaining a payoff are unknown or at least difficult to ascertain. One solution to this problem is to infer the probability from the magnitude of the potential payoff and thus exploit the inverse relationship between payoffs and probabilities that occurs in many domains in the environment. Here, we investigated how the mind may implement such a solution: (1) Do people learn about risk-reward relationships from the environment-and if so, how? (2) How do learned risk-reward relationships impact preferences in decision-making under uncertainty? Across three experiments (N = 352), we found that participants can learn risk-reward relationships from being exposed to choice environments with a negative, positive, or uncorrelated risk-reward relationship. They were able to learn the associations both from gambles with explicitly stated payoffs and probabilities (Experiments 1 & 2) and from gambles about epistemic events (Experiment 3). In subsequent decisions under uncertainty, participants often exploited the learned association by inferring probabilities from the magnitudes of the payoffs. This inference systematically influenced their preferences under uncertainty: Participants who had been exposed to a negative risk-reward relationship tended to prefer the uncertain option over a smaller sure option for low payoffs, but not for high payoffs. This pattern reversed in the positive condition and disappeared in the uncorrelated condition. This adaptive change in preferences is consistent with the use of the risk-reward heuristic. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Performing a secondary executive task with affective stimuli interferes with decision making under risk conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Gathmann, Bettina; Pawlikowski, Mirko; Schöler, Tobias; Brand, Matthias

2014-05-01

Previous studies demonstrated that executive functions are crucial for advantageous decision making under risk and that therefore decision making is disrupted when working memory capacity is demanded while working on a decision task. While some studies also showed that emotions can affect decision making under risk, it is unclear how affective processing and executive functions predict decision-making performance in interaction. The current experimental study used a between-subjects design to examine whether affective pictures (positive and negative pictures compared to neutral pictures), included in a parallel executive task (working memory 2-back task), have an impact on decision making under risk as assessed by the Game of Dice Task (GDT). Moreover, the performance GDT plus 2-back task was compared to the performance in the GDT without any additional task (GDT solely). The results show that the performance in the GDT differed between groups (positive, negative, neutral, and GDT solely). The groups with affective pictures, especially those with positive pictures in the 2-back task, showed more disadvantageous decisions in the GDT than the groups with neutral pictures and the group performing the GDT without any additional task. However, executive functions moderated the effect of the affective pictures. Regardless of affective influence, subjects with good executive functions performed advantageously in the GDT. These findings support the assumption that executive functions and emotional processing interact in predicting decision making under risk.

Urban Flood Risk Assessment Under Uncertain Conditions and Scarce Information

Science.gov (United States)

Rodríguez-Gaviria, E. M.; Botero-Fernandez, V.

2015-12-01

Flood risk management in small urban areas in Colombia has a great degree of uncertainty due to the low availability and quality of data, the non-existent personnel qualified in the collection and processing of data, and the insufficient information to evaluate the risk and vulnerability. It is because of this that two methods are developed: one for the generation of flood threat maps for different return periods combining historical, geomorphological, and hydrological hydraulic methods assisted by remote sensors and SIG through the use of data acquired through field campaigns, official hydrological networks, orthophotos, multitemporal topographic maps, and ASTER, STRM, and LiDAR images. And another method in which categorical variables are established, linking local physical, social, economical, environmental and political-institutional factors that are explored through different media such as reports, news, databases, transects, interviews, community workshops, and surveys conducted at homes. Such variables were included within an analysis of multiple correspondence to conduct a descriptive study of the exposure, susceptibility, and capacity conditions and to create a vulnerability index that was spatially plotted spatially on maps. The uncertainty is reduced in the measure in which local knowledge is used as a source of information acquisition, of validation of what already exists, and of calibration of the proposed methods. This research was applied to the urban centers of Caucasia (Antioquia) and Plato (Magdalena), which have been historically affected by slow flooding of the Magdalena and Cauca river, it being especially useful in the selection of best alternatives for risk management, planning for development, and land use management, with the possibility of replicating it to benefit other municipalities that experience the same reality.

A Non-parametric Method for Calculating Conditional Stressed Value at Risk

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kohei Marumo

2017-01-01

Full Text Available We consider the Value at Risk (VaR of a portfolio under stressed conditions. In practice, the stressed VaR (sVaR is commonly calculated using the data set that includes the stressed period. It tells us how much the risk amount increases if we use the stressed data set. In this paper, we consider the VaR under stress scenarios. Technically, this can be done by deriving the distribution of profit or loss conditioned on the value of risk factors. We use two methods; the one that uses the linear model and the one that uses the Hermite expansion discussed by Marumo and Wolff (2013, 2016. Numerical examples shows that the method using the Hermite expansion is capable of capturing the non-linear effects such as correlation collapse and volatility clustering, which are often observed in the markets.

Quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) shows increased public health risk associated with exposure to river water under conditions of riverbed sediment resuspension.

Science.gov (United States)

Abia, Akebe Luther King; Ubomba-Jaswa, Eunice; Genthe, Bettina; Momba, Maggy Ndombo Benteke

2016-10-01

Although higher microbial concentrations have been reported in sediments than in the overlying water column, most quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) studies have not clearly indicated the contribution of sediment-borne pathogens to estimated risks. Thus, the present study aimed at determining the public health risk associated with exposure to pathogenic bacteria in polluted river water under undisturbed conditions and conditions of sediment resuspension in the Apies River, Gauteng, South Africa. Microbial pathogens were isolated and identified using culture and molecular methods. The beta-Poisson dose-response model was used to estimate the probability of infection (Pi) with the various pathogens, following accidental/intentional ingestion of 1mL or 100mL (or 50mL) of untreated river water. Mean wet season Escherichia coli counts ranged between 5.8E+01 and 8.8E+04MPN/100mL (water column) and between 2.40E+03 and 1.28E+05MPN/100mL (sediments). Mean dry season E. coli counts ranged between 5.11E+00 and 3.40E+03MPN/100mL (water column) and between 5.09E+00 and 6.30E+03MPN/100mL (sediments). Overall (water and sediments) Vibrio cholerae was the most detected pathogen (58.8%) followed by Salmonella spp. (23.9%) and Shigella (10.1%). Ingestion of 1mL of river water could lead to 0%-4% and 1%-74% Pi with E. coli during the dry and wet season, respectively. During the dry season, the Pi with V. cholerae, Salmonella spp. and Shigella spp. were 0%-1.39%, 0%-4.11% and 0%-0.16% respectively, depending on volume of water ingested. The risks of infections with all microorganisms increased during the wet season. A 2-log increase in water E. coli count following sediments disturbance led to approximately 10 times higher Pi with E. coli than when sediments were undisturbed. Therefore, the use of the untreated water from the Apies River for drinking, household purposes or recreational activities poses a potential health risk to the users of the river. Copyright © 2016

Modelling crop yield in Iberia under drought conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Ribeiro, Andreia; Páscoa, Patrícia; Russo, Ana; Gouveia, Célia

2017-04-01

The improved assessment of the cereal yield and crop loss under drought conditions are essential to meet the increasing economy demands. The growing frequency and severity of the extreme drought conditions in the Iberian Peninsula (IP) has been likely responsible for negative impacts on agriculture, namely on crop yield losses. Therefore, a continuous monitoring of vegetation activity and a reliable estimation of drought impacts is crucial to contribute for the agricultural drought management and development of suitable information tools. This works aims to assess the influence of drought conditions in agricultural yields over the IP, considering cereal yields from mainly rainfed agriculture for the provinces with higher productivity. The main target is to develop a strategy to model drought risk on agriculture for wheat yield at a province level. In order to achieve this goal a combined assessment was made using a drought indicator (Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index, SPEI) to evaluate drought conditions together with a widely used vegetation index (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, NDVI) to monitor vegetation activity. A correlation analysis between detrended wheat yield and SPEI was performed in order to assess the vegetation response to each time scale of drought occurrence and also identify the moment of the vegetative cycle when the crop yields are more vulnerable to drought conditions. The time scales and months of SPEI, together with the months of NDVI, better related with wheat yield were chosen to perform a multivariate regression analysis to simulate crop yield. Model results are satisfactory and highlighted the usefulness of such analysis in the framework of developing a drought risk model for crop yields. In terms of an operational point of view, the results aim to contribute to an improved understanding of crop yield management under dry conditions, particularly adding substantial information on the advantages of combining

Risk related behaviour under different ambient scent conditions

OpenAIRE

Alina Gagarina; Indre Pikturniene

2016-01-01

The article analyses the effect of two ambient scents (peppermint and vanilla) and their intensiveness on risk related behaviour that is expressed through selected decision making heuristics. Purpose of the article: The purpose of this article is to identify the relationship of ambient scent type and intensiveness with risk related behaviour that is expressed through selected decision making heuristics. Methodology/methods: 2×2 factorial experiment with control group was run. Ambi...

The Comparison of Inductive Reasoning under Risk Conditions between Chinese and Japanese Based on Computational Models: Toward the Application to CAE for Foreign Language

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yujie; Terai, Asuka; Nakagawa, Masanori

2013-01-01

Inductive reasoning under risk conditions is an important thinking process not only for sciences but also in our daily life. From this viewpoint, it is very useful for language learning to construct computational models of inductive reasoning which realize the CAE for foreign languages. This study proposes the comparison of inductive reasoning…

MANAGEMENT OF INVESTMENT ACTIVITY OF THE ENTERPRISE UNDER CRISIS CONDITIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. Naumova

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The method of comparison, analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction in devoted paper for the purpose of summarized modern theoretical approaches to the investment activity of the enterprise are used. The research is based on the analysis of scientific papers of leading scientists about investment activity of the enterprise under crisis economic conditions. The relationship between corporate management, technological modification of the production process, the government protection of the property rights of investors under crisis conditions and investment activity of Ukrainian enterprises are analyzed. The paper is shown that lack of the investment activity in Ukraine is a negative consequence of the presence a high degree of risk as a result of banking crisis and serious legal violations in the activity of enterprises.

Residue behavior and risk assessment of mixed formulation of imidacloprid and chlorfenapyr in chieh-qua under field conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Jian Xiang; Liu, Cong Yun; Lu, Da Hai; Chen, Jia Jia; Deng, Yi Cai; Wang, Fu Hua

2015-10-01

A simple and rapid method based on high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) was developed for the simultaneous determination of imidacloprid and chlorfenapyr residues in chieh-qua. Field trials were designed to investigate the dissipation and terminal residue behavior of the mixed formulation of imidacloprid and chlorfenapyr in chieh-qua in Guangzhou and Nanning areas. Risk assessment was performed by calculating the risk quotient (RQ) values. The developed analytical method exhibited recoveries of 89.9-110.3% with relative standard deviations (RSDs) of 2.8-12.5% at the spiked levels of 0.01, 0.10, and 1.00 mg/kg. The limit of detection (LOD) was 0.003 mg/kg, and the limit of quantification (LOQ) was 0.01 mg/kg for both imidacloprid and chlorfenapyr. It was found that the half-lives of imidacloprid in chieh-qua under field conditions were 3.3 and 3.5 days in Guangzhou and Nanning at a dose of 180 g ai/ha, while the half-lives of chlorfenapyr were 3.3 and 2.6 days, respectively. The terminal residues of imidacloprid and chlorfenapyr were from 0.01 to 0.21 mg/kg and from 0.01 to 0.46 mg/kg, respectively. Results of dietary exposure assessment showed that the RQ values were much lower than 1, indicating that the risk of imidacloprid and chlorfenapyr applied in chieh-qua was negligible to human health under recommended dosage and good agricultural practices. The proposed study would provide guidance for safe and reasonable use of imidacloprid and chlorfenapyr in chieh-qua cultivation in China.

Climate Change and Crop Exposure to Adverse Weather: Changes to Frost Risk and Grapevine Flowering Conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Mosedale, Jonathan R; Wilson, Robert J; Maclean, Ilya M D

2015-01-01

The cultivation of grapevines in the UK and many other cool climate regions is expected to benefit from the higher growing season temperatures predicted under future climate scenarios. Yet the effects of climate change on the risk of adverse weather conditions or events at key stages of crop development are not always captured by aggregated measures of seasonal or yearly climates, or by downscaling techniques that assume climate variability will remain unchanged under future scenarios. Using fine resolution projections of future climate scenarios for south-west England and grapevine phenology models we explore how risks to cool-climate vineyard harvests vary under future climate conditions. Results indicate that the risk of adverse conditions during flowering declines under all future climate scenarios. In contrast, the risk of late spring frosts increases under many future climate projections due to advancement in the timing of budbreak. Estimates of frost risk, however, were highly sensitive to the choice of phenology model, and future frost exposure declined when budbreak was calculated using models that included a winter chill requirement for dormancy break. The lack of robust phenological models is a major source of uncertainty concerning the impacts of future climate change on the development of cool-climate viticulture in historically marginal climatic regions.

Social Discounting under Risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Jin, Jia; Pei, Guanxiong; Ma, Qingguo

2017-01-01

As a measure of how prosocial behavior depends on social distance, social discounting is defined as the decrease in generosity between the decision maker and the recipient as the social distance increases. While risk is a ubiquitous part of modern life, there is limited research on the relationship between risk and prosocial behavior. In the present experiment, we empirically test whether risk has an influence on social discounting. We use the choice titration procedure to examine this effect. Our data show that independent of risk, participants are less eager to forego money and exhibit more selfishness toward a specific person when the social distance increases; these findings are reflected in the hyperbolic model. Interestingly, risk influences the shape of the social discounting function, which is reflected in the notable different discount rates. Individuals who make decisions under risk yield a smaller discount rate than those who make decisions without risk, i.e., under risk subjects reduce less their generosity as a function of the social distance. Furthermore, this distinct type of generosity occurs typically among individuals with 10-distance recipients but not with the closest- and furthest-social-distance recipients.

A mediation model to explain decision making under conditions of risk among adolescents: the role of fluid intelligence and probabilistic reasoning.

Science.gov (United States)

Donati, Maria Anna; Panno, Angelo; Chiesi, Francesca; Primi, Caterina

2014-01-01

This study tested the mediating role of probabilistic reasoning ability in the relationship between fluid intelligence and advantageous decision making among adolescents in explicit situations of risk--that is, in contexts in which information on the choice options (gains, losses, and probabilities) were explicitly presented at the beginning of the task. Participants were 282 adolescents attending high school (77% males, mean age = 17.3 years). We first measured fluid intelligence and probabilistic reasoning ability. Then, to measure decision making under explicit conditions of risk, participants performed the Game of Dice Task, in which they have to decide among different alternatives that are explicitly linked to a specific amount of gain or loss and have obvious winning probabilities that are stable over time. Analyses showed a significant positive indirect effect of fluid intelligence on advantageous decision making through probabilistic reasoning ability that acted as a mediator. Specifically, fluid intelligence may enhance ability to reason in probabilistic terms, which in turn increases the likelihood of advantageous choices when adolescents are confronted with an explicit decisional context. Findings show that in experimental paradigm settings, adolescents are able to make advantageous decisions using cognitive abilities when faced with decisions under explicit risky conditions. This study suggests that interventions designed to promote probabilistic reasoning, for example by incrementing the mathematical prerequisites necessary to reason in probabilistic terms, may have a positive effect on adolescents' decision-making abilities.

Sex differences in the use of social information emerge under conditions of risk

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Charlotte O. Brand

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Social learning provides an effective route to gaining up-to-date information, particularly when information is costly to obtain asocially. Theoretical work predicts that the willingness to switch between using asocial and social sources of information will vary between individuals according to their risk tolerance. We tested the prediction that, where there are sex differences in risk tolerance, altering the variance of the payoffs of using asocial and social information differentially influences the probability of social information use by sex. In a computer-based task that involved building a virtual spaceship, men and women (N = 88 were given the option of using either asocial or social sources of information to improve their performance. When the asocial option was risky (i.e., the participant’s score could markedly increase or decrease and the social option was safe (i.e., their score could slightly increase or remain the same, women, but not men, were more likely to use the social option than the asocial option. In all other conditions, both women and men preferentially used the asocial option to a similar degree. We therefore found both a sex difference in risk aversion and a sex difference in the preference for social information when relying on asocial information was risky, consistent with the hypothesis that levels of risk-aversion influence the use of social information.

Wave Runup on a Frozen Beach Under High Energy Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Didier, D.; Bernatchez, P.; Dumont, D.; Corriveau, M.

2017-12-01

High and mid-latitude beaches have typical morphological characteristics influenced by nearshore processes prevailing under ice conditions during cold season. Nearshore ice complexes (NIC) offer a natural coastal protection by covering beach sediments, while offshore ice-infested waters dissipate incoming waves. Climate change contributes to sea ice shrinking therefore reducing its protection against erosion and flooding. In the Estuary and Gulf of the St. Lawrence (ESL, GSL) (eastern Canada), sea ice cover undergoes an overall shrinking and simulated future projections tend toward a negligible effect on wave climate by 2100. Quantifying the effect of nearshore dynamics on frozen beaches is therefore imperative for coastal management as more wave energy at the coast is expected in the future. To measure the effect of a frozen beach on wave runup elevations, this study employs a continuous video recording of the swash motion at 4Hz. Video-derived wave runup statistics have been extracted during a tidal cycle on a frozen beach, using the Pointe-Lebel beach (ESL) as a test case. Timestack analysis was combined with offshore water levels and wave measurements. A comparison of runup under icy conditions (Dec. 30 2016) with a runup distribution during summer was made under similar high energy wave conditions. Results indicate high runup excursions potentially caused by lowered sediment permeability due to high pore-ice saturation in the swash zone, accentuating the overwash of the eroding coastline and thus the risk of flooding. With projected reduction in coastal sea ice cover and thus higher wave energy, this study suggests that episodes of degradation and weakening could influence the coastal flood risk in mid- and high-latitude cold environments.

Diagnosis and incidence risk of clinical canine monocytic ehrlichiosis under field conditions in Southern Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

René-Martellet, Magalie; Lebert, Isabelle; Chêne, Jeanne; Massot, Raphaël; Leon, Marta; Leal, Ana; Badavelli, Stefania; Chalvet-Monfray, Karine; Ducrot, Christian; Abrial, David; Chabanne, Luc; Halos, Lénaïg

2015-01-06

evocative of CME is as likely to be positive to Ehrlichia canis as to another VBP. The study confirms the endemicity of CME in southern Europe and highlights the difficulties encountered by veterinarians to differentiate CME from other vector-borne diseases under field conditions.

Biological phosphorus uptake under anoxic and aerobic conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kerrn-Jespersen, Jens Peter; Henze, Mogens

1993-01-01

Biological phosphorus removal was investigated under anoxic and aerobic conditions. Tests were made to establish whether phosphorus accumulating bacteria can take up phosphate under anoxic conditions and thus utilise nitrate as oxidant. Furthermore, it was tested how the amount of organic matter...... as oxidant. The phosphorus uptake was more rapid under aerobic conditions than under anoxic conditions. The explanation of this is that all phosphorus accumulating bacteria take up phosphate under aerobic conditions, whereas only part of the phosphorus accumulating bacteria take up phosphate under anoxic...

Evaporation under vacuum condition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mizuta, Satoshi; Shibata, Yuki; Yuki, Kazuhisa; Hashizume, Hidetoshi; Toda, Saburo; Takase, Kazuyuki; Akimoto, Hajime

2000-01-01

In nuclear fusion reactor design, an event of water coolant ingress into its vacuum vessel is now being considered as one of the most probable accidents. In this report, the evaporation under vacuum condition is evaluated by using the evaporation model we have developed. The results show that shock-wave by the evaporation occurs whose behavior strongly depends on the initial conditions of vacuum. And in the case of lower initial pressure and temperature, the surface temp finally becomes higher than other conditions. (author)

Attracting foreign direct investment under high risk and volatility of international financial markets

OpenAIRE

PARTACHI Ion; ARVINTE Vitalie

2009-01-01

International financial crisis caused significant reduction of investment flows, especially to emerging markets, vulnerable to external shocks and foreign exchange rate fluctuations. Under these conditions, decision factors are pushed to adopt changes in investment strategies in order to maintain competitiveness in attracting foreign investments needed to stabilize economy and continue development programs. Under the conditions of incertitude and high risks emerging economies adopted differen...

Hydrologic Extremes and Risk Assessment under Non-stationarity

Science.gov (United States)

Mondal, A.

2015-12-01

In the context of hydrologic designs, robust assessment and communication of risk is crucial to ascertain a sustainable water future. Traditional methods for defining return period, risk or reliability assumes a stationary regime which may no longer be valid because of natural or man-made changes. Reformulations are suggested in recent literature to account for non-stationarity in the definition of hydrologic risk, as time evolves. This study presents a comparative analysis of design levels under non-stationarity based on time varying annual exceedance probabilities, waiting time of a hazardous event, number of hazardous events and probability of failure. A case study application is shown for peak streamflow in the flood-prone delta area of the Krishna River in India where an increasing trend in annual maximum flows are observed owing to persistent silting. Considerable disagreement is found between the design magnitudes of flood obtained by the different definitions of hydrologic risk. Such risk is also found to be highly sensitive to the assumed design life period and projections of trend in that period or beyond. Additionally, some critical points on the assumption of a deterministic non-stationary model for an observed natural process are also discussed. The findings highlight the necessity for a unifying framework for assessment and communication of hydrologic risk under transient hydro-climatic conditions. The concepts can also be extended to other applications such as regional hydrologic frequency analysis or development of precipitation intensity-duration-frequency relationships for infrastructure design.

Pressure cylinders under fire condition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jan Hora

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The presence of pressure cylinders under fire conditions significantly increases the risk rate for the intervening persons. It is considerably problematic to predict the pressure cylinders behaviour during heat exposition, its destruction progress and possible following explosion of the produced air–gas mixture because pressure cylinders and its environment generate a highly complicated dynamic system during an uncontrolled destruction. The large scale tests carried out by the Pilsen Fire and Rescue Department and the Rapid Response Unit of the Czech Republic Police in October 2012 and in May 2014 in the Military area Brdy and in the area of the former Lachema factory in Kaznějov had several objectives, namely, to record, qualify and quantify some of the aspects of an uncontrolled heat destruction procedure of an exposed pressure cylinder in an enclosed space and to qualify and describe the process of a controlled destruction of a pressure cylinder by shooting through it including basic tactical concepts. The article describes the experiments that were carried out.

[Children's health under the conditions of social differentiation].

Science.gov (United States)

Maksimova, T M; Gaenko, O N; Belov, V B

2004-01-01

Results of social-and-hygienic research of the health condition of children belonging to different social-and-economic population categories are under discussion. The material family status is shown to directly affect the child's life quality, i.e. family life mode, psychological climate, scope and variety of food-stuffs, the possibility to have a regular and valuable recreation, educational regime, and the possibility to satisfy the spiritual demands of a child etc. The morbidity goes up among children as the family income decreases. The social-and-economic conditions are the uttermost and often decisive risk factor that provokes the development of deviations in children's health. The material stratification of society conditions, for children, differing degrees of access to public benefits that are involved in shaping the children's health, thus, entailing the disequilibrium in their health. A realistic pattern of children's health is needed as a data base to define an objective necessity of children in medical care of different types as well as their necessity in medical drugs and equipment.

A dual system model of preferences under risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Mukherjee, Kanchan

2010-01-01

This article presents a dual system model (DSM) of decision making under risk and uncertainty according to which the value of a gamble is a combination of the values assigned to it independently by the affective and deliberative systems. On the basis of research on dual process theories and empirical research in Hsee and Rottenstreich (2004) and Rottenstreich and Hsee (2001) among others, the DSM incorporates (a) individual differences in disposition to rational versus emotional decision making, (b) the affective nature of outcomes, and (c) different task construals within its framework. The model has good descriptive validity and accounts for (a) violation of nontransparent stochastic dominance, (b) fourfold pattern of risk attitudes, (c) ambiguity aversion, (d) common consequence effect, (e) common ratio effect, (f) isolation effect, and (g) coalescing and event-splitting effects. The DSM is also used to make several novel predictions of conditions under which specific behavior patterns may or may not occur.

Risky behavior and its effect on survival: snowshoe hare behavior under varying moonlight conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Gigliotti, Laura C.; Diefenbach, Duane R.

2018-01-01

Predation and predation risk can exert strong influences on the behavior of prey species. However, risk avoidance behaviors may vary among populations of the same species. We studied a population of snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) near the southern edge of their range, in Pennsylvania. This population occupies different habitat types, experiences different environmental conditions, and are exposed to different predator species and densities than northern hare populations; therefore, they might exhibit differences in risk avoidance behaviors. We analyzed hare survival, movement rates, and habitat use under different levels of predation risk, as indexed by moonlight. Similar to previous work, we found snowshoe hare survival decreased with increased moon illumination during the winter, but we found differences in behavioral responses to increased predation risk. We found that snowshoe hares did not reduce movement rates during high‐risk nights, but instead found that hares selected areas with denser canopy cover, compared to low‐risk nights. We suggest that behavioral plasticity in response to predation risk allows populations of the same species to respond to localized conditions.

Microbiologically induced corrosion of carbon steel under continuous flow conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tunaru, Mariana; Dragomir, Maria; Voicu, Anca

2008-01-01

Microbiologically induced corrosion is the label generally applied to corrosion involving the action of bacteria on metal surfaces. While different combinations of bacterial species, materials and chemical constituents are interrelated factors, stagnant water is the factor most often mentioned in reported cases. This paper presents the results obtained regarding the testing of microbiologically induced corrosion of carbon steel under continuous flow conditions in the presence of iron-oxidizing bacteria. The tests were performed on coupons of SA106gr.B exposed both in stagnant conditions and in flow conditions. The surfaces of these coupons were studied by metallographic technique, while the developed biofilms were analysed using microbiological technique. The correlation of all the results which were obtained emphasized that the minimizing the occurrence of stagnant or low-flow conditions can prove effective in reducing the risk of microbiologically induced corrosion in plant cooling-water systems. (authors)

Magnetic compression anastomosis for enteroenterostomy under peritonitis conditions in dogs.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Hongke; Tan, Kai; Fan, Chao; Du, Jingwei; Li, Jiangbin; Yang, Tao; Lv, Yi; Du, Xilin

2017-02-01

The risk of complications and mortality are high after enteroenterostomy in severe peritonitic conditions. Magnetic compression anastomosis (MCA) is a sutureless technique of high efficacy and safety. The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of MCA for enteroenterostomy with stapled and hand-sewn techniques under peritonitic conditions. The peritonitic conditions were created by puncturing the colon with a circular blade in 27 mongrel dogs. Eight hours later, the peritoneal cavity was washed with warm, sterilized normal saline solution. The animals were then randomly divided into three groups and underwent colonic anastomosis with MCA, stapled, or hand-sewn techniques, respectively. Animals were euthanized at 1, 2, and 4 w after the operation; anastomoses were compared on the basis of gross appearance and histology. All magnetic devices formed patent anastomoses without a leak. However, one stapled anastomosis and three hand-sewn anastomoses resulted in leaks. The anastomosis time was significantly less in the MCA group than that of the other two groups (P anastomoses for MCA was smoother than that of the other two groups. MCA is a feasible, safe, and effective alternative for enteroenterostomy under peritonitic conditions in the canine model. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Decision Making under Risk Condition in Patients with Parkinson’s Disease: A Behavioural and fMRI Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kirsten Labudda

2010-01-01

Full Text Available We aimed to study whether previously described impairment in decision making under risky conditions in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD is affected by deficits in using information about potential incentives or by processing feedback (in terms of fictitious gains and losses following each decision. Additionally, we studied whether the neural correlates of using explicit information in decision making under risk differ between PD patients and healthy subjects. We investigated ten cognitively intact PD patients and twelve healthy subjects with the Game of Dice Task (GDT to assess risky decision making, and with an fMRI paradigm to analyse the neural correlates of information integration in the deliberative decision phase. Behaviourally, PD patients showed selective impairment in the GDT but not on the fMRI task that did not include a feedback component. Healthy subjects exhibited lateral prefrontal, anterior cingulate and parietal activations when integrating decision-relevant information. Despite similar behavioural patterns on the fMRI task, patients exhibited reduced parietal activation. Behavioural results suggest that PD patients’ deficits in risky decision making are dominated by impaired feedback utilization not compensable by intact cognitive functions. Our fMRI results suggest similarities but also differences in neural correlates when using explicit information for the decision process, potentially indicating different strategy application even if the interfering feedback component is excluded.

Relationship between Air Pollution and Weather Conditions under Complicated Geographical conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Q.; Jiang, P.; Li, M.

2017-12-01

Air pollution is one of the most serious issues all over the world, especially in megacities with constrained geographical conditions for air pollution diffusion. However, the dynamic mechanism of air pollution diffusion under complicated geographical conditions is still be confused. Researches to explore relationship between air pollution and weather conditions from the perspective of local atmospheric circulations can contribute more to solve such problem. We selected three megacities (Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou) under different geographical condition (mountain-plain transition region, coastal alluvial plain and coastal hilly terrain) to explore the relationship between air pollution and weather conditions. RDA (Redundancy analysis) model was used to analyze how the local atmospheric circulation acts on the air pollutant diffusion. The results show that there was a positive correlation between the concentration of air pollutants and air pressure, while temperature, precipitation and wind speed have negative correlations with the concentration of air pollutants. Furthermore, geographical conditions, such as topographic relief, have significant effects on the direction, path and intensity of local atmospheric circulation. As a consequence, air pollutants diffusion modes in different cities under various geographical conditions are diverse from each other.

CANDU fuel behaviour under LOCA conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kohn, E.

1989-07-01

This report summarizes the current understanding of CANDU fuel-element behaviour under loss-of-coolant (LOCA) accidents. It focuses on a key in-reactor verification experiment conducted at Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) and on three Canadian in-reactor tests. The in-reactor data, and the considerable body of supporting information developed from out-reactor tests, support the general conclusion that CANDU fuel behaviour during LOCA transients is well understood. Four elements of 37-element CANDU fuel-bundle design were tested under conditions typical of a large-break LOCA blowdown in a CANDU reactor. The purpose of the test was to confirm our current understanding of fuel behaviour under loss-of-coolant accident blowdown conditions. The test also provided data for comparison with predictions made with the steady-state and transient fuel-element performance codes ELESIM and ELOCA. Key components of typical LOCA transients were incorporated in the test: namely, a rapid depressurization rate of the hot coolant, a simultaneous power increase before decreasing to decay values (a power pulse), and prototype fuel element under pre-transient power and burnup conditions. The test was successfully completed in the Power Burst Facility (PBF) reactor at INEL under contract to Ontario Hydro and AECL. The three CANDU Owners Group LOCA tests performed at Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories measured both the thermal-mechanical response and fission-gas release resulting from exposure to a LOCA transient. Results from these three tests provided further confirmation that the behaviour of the fuel under LOCA conditions is understood

Age-related effects on postural control under multi-task conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Granacher, Urs; Bridenbaugh, Stephanie A; Muehlbauer, Thomas; Wehrle, Anja; Kressig, Reto W

2011-01-01

Changes in postural sway and gait patterns due to simultaneously performed cognitive (CI) and/or motor interference (MI) tasks have previously been reported and are associated with an increased risk of falling in older adults. The objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of a CI and/or MI task on static and dynamic postural control in young and elderly subjects, and to find out whether there is an association between measures of static and dynamic postural control while concurrently performing the CI and/or MI task. A total of 36 healthy young (n = 18; age: 22.3 ± 3.0 years; BMI: 21.0 ± 1.6 kg/m(2)) and elderly adults (n = 18; age: 73.5 ± 5.5 years; BMI: 24.2 ± 2.9 kg/m(2)) participated in this study. Static postural control was measured during bipedal stance, and dynamic postural control was obtained while walking on an instrumented walkway. Irrespective of the task condition, i.e. single-task or multiple tasks, elderly participants showed larger center-of-pressure displacements and greater stride-to-stride variability than younger participants. Associations between measures of static and dynamic postural control were found only under the single-task condition in the elderly. Age-related deficits in the postural control system seem to be primarily responsible for the observed results. The weak correlations detected between static and dynamic measures could indicate that fall-risk assessment should incorporate dynamic measures under multi-task conditions, and that skills like erect standing and walking are independent of each other and may have to be trained complementarily. Copyright © 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel.

THE RISK OF CLIMATE CHANGES ON ROMANIAN FORESTS UNDER THE IMPACT OF RAINFALLS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

OCTAVIA BOGDAN

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The risk of climate changes on romanian forests under the impact of rainfalls. The risk of climate change on forests in Romania under the impact of precipitation. This paper is a continuation of studies published in the previous magazine Risks and Disasters, editor V. Sorocovschi, which treated the risk of climate change on forests induced by air temperature in Romania. This time, using the same methodology (Bogdan, Coconea, 2013 demonstrated that rainfall-induced climate changes, due to global warming, exert a risk to vegetation in general and forests in particular, but of a regional nature (tablel 1 . This is due to a complex of geographical factors (position, orographic barrier role, topoclimatic discontinuity alternating positive and negative forms of relief etc. and meteorological factors (enhancing or reducing atmospheric air circulation. The decennial analysis by floors of vegetation during 1961-2010 (table 3a-3h indicates that under conditions of increasing air temperature are likely to take place, both a decrease in precipitations (as in decades 3-4, as well as an increase, like in the last decade, 2001-2010, which was at the hottest. The cause lies in the intensification of heat stroke, the evaporation, thermal convection (especially in the hottest months of the year, which increases cloudiness and precipitation implicitly. The feedback reaction of forest ecosystems to climate change leads to the following conclusions: under the conditions of decreasing rainfall, the water storage in the soil lowers, the soil dryness increase eakens trees and increases resistance to wind-blown trees phenomenon, so that the forest loses its climate equilibrium role under increased rainfall, frequency of rain showers accompanied by hail and storms, there are foliaceous system destruction, intense erosion processes (leading to CO2 release from soil to the atmosphere and thunderstorms (which will generate increased forest fires and pollution, whereas

Modeling intelligent adversaries for terrorism risk assessment: some necessary conditions for adversary models.

Science.gov (United States)

Guikema, Seth

2012-07-01

Intelligent adversary modeling has become increasingly important for risk analysis, and a number of different approaches have been proposed for incorporating intelligent adversaries in risk analysis models. However, these approaches are based on a range of often-implicit assumptions about the desirable properties of intelligent adversary models. This "Perspective" paper aims to further risk analysis for situations involving intelligent adversaries by fostering a discussion of the desirable properties for these models. A set of four basic necessary conditions for intelligent adversary models is proposed and discussed. These are: (1) behavioral accuracy to the degree possible, (2) computational tractability to support decision making, (3) explicit consideration of uncertainty, and (4) ability to gain confidence in the model. It is hoped that these suggested necessary conditions foster discussion about the goals and assumptions underlying intelligent adversary modeling in risk analysis. © 2011 Society for Risk Analysis.

Identification of the causes of risks under the conditions of innovative development of oil and gas companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khvostina I. M.

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The market environment, in which oil and gas companies operate, is characterized by elements of uncertainty and is accompanied by risks of entrepreneurship and production. Insufficient attention to the issues of risk management in the conditions of innovative development of enterprises leads to an inadequate response of oil and gas companies on the risks and threats that arise in the current economic environment, and, as a consequence, the adoption of unjustified managerial decisions. All this contributes to the significant threats in the activity of enterprises, limited mobility and loss of potential opportunities. The article defines the modern state oil and gas complex of Ukraine. The main problems of enterprises operating in this industry are considered. The causes of risks influencing the innovative activity of enterprises of oil and gas complex, the necessity of building an integrated risk management system are investigated.

Nuclides migration tests under deep geological conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kumata, M.; Vandergraaf, T.T.

1991-01-01

Migration behaviour of technetium and iodine under deep geological conditions was investigated by performing column tests under in-situ conditions at the 240 m level of the Underground Research Laboratory (URL) constructed in a granitic batholith near Pinawa, Manitoba, Canada. 131 I was injected with tritiated water into the column. Tritium and 131 I were eluted simultaneously. Almost 100 % of injected 131 I was recovered in the tritium breakthrough region, indicating that iodine moved through the column almost without retardation under experimental conditions. On the other hand, the injected technetium with tritium was strongly retarded in the column even though the groundwater was mildly reducing. Only about 7 % of injected 95m Tc was recovered in the tritium breakthrough region and the remaining fraction was strongly sorbed on the dark mafic minerals of column materials. This strong sorption of technetium on the column materials had not been expected from the results obtained from batch experiments carried out under anaerobic conditions. (author)

Batch culture of Azotobacter vinelandii under oxygen limitation conditionS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Camacho Rubio, F.; Martinez Nieto, L.; Fernandez Serrano, M.; Jimenez Moleon, M.C. [Departamento de Ingenieria Quimica, Universidad de Granada, Granada (Spain)

1996-12-01

The batch culture of Azotobacter vinealandii on glucose under nitrogen-fixing conditions, seeking oxygen limitation conditions, has been studied in order to use it as a Biological Test System for the experimental study of oxygen transfer enhancement methods in aerobic fermenters. overall kinetic parameters for exponential growth and for linear growth (under oxygen limitation) have been determined. It was noted an appreciable influence of the oxygen transfer rate on glucose and oxygen uptake, which seems to be due to alginate production, excreted as a nitrogenase protection mechanisms. (Author) 12 refs.

Biomass co-firing under oxy-fuel conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Álvarez, L.; Yin, Chungen; Riaza, J.

2014-01-01

This paper presents an experimental and numerical study on co-firing olive waste (0, 10%, 20% on mass basis) with two coals in an entrained flow reactor under three oxy-fuel conditions (21%O2/79%CO2, 30%O2/70%CO2 and 35%O2/65%CO2) and air–fuel condition. Co-firing biomass with coal was found...... to have favourable synergy effects in all the cases: it significantly improves the burnout and remarkably lowers NOx emissions. The reduced peak temperatures during co-firing can also help to mitigate deposition formation in real furnaces. Co-firing CO2-neutral biomass with coals under oxy-fuel conditions...... the model can be used to aid in design and optimization of large-scale biomass co-firing under oxy-fuel conditions....

Allele-specific MMP-3 transcription under in vivo conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chaoyong, Zhu [Atherosclerosis Research Unit, King Gustav V Research Institute, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm (Sweden); Odeberg, Jacob [Atherosclerosis Research Unit, King Gustav V Research Institute, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm (Sweden); Department of Biotechnology, AlbaNova University Center, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm (Sweden); Hamsten, Anders [Atherosclerosis Research Unit, King Gustav V Research Institute, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm (Sweden); Eriksson, Per [Atherosclerosis Research Unit, King Gustav V Research Institute, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm (Sweden)

2006-09-29

A common matrix metalloproteinases-3 (MMP-3) -1612 5A/6A promoter polymorphism is associated with risk for cardiovascular disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and other diseases. Here we used the haplotype chromatin immunoprecipitation method to study allele-specific MMP-3 expression under in vivo conditions in heterozygous THP-1 cells. Pyrosequencing was used to analyse the ratio of 5A-allele to 6A-allele after chromatin immunoprecipitation using an antibody against phosphorylated active RNA polymerase II. There was no allele-specific difference in transcriptional activity during basal conditions, i.e., in unstimulated monocytic THP-1 cells. However, after stimulation of MMP-3 expression by monocyte differentiation or incubation with IL-1{beta}, the haplotype containing the 5A-allele was associated with higher transcriptional activity compared with the 6A-containing haplotype. Electromobility shift assay demonstrated increased binding of nuclear proteins to the 5A-allele after monocyte differentiation. In conclusion, the common MMP-3 5A/6A promoter polymorphism appears to be functional only during specific environmental conditions involving inflammation.

Biotransformation potential of phytosterols under anoxic and anaerobic conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Dykstra, C M; Giles, H D; Banerjee, S; Pavlostathis, S G

2014-01-01

The biotransformation potential of three phytosterols (campesterol, stigmasterol and β-sitosterol) under denitrifying, sulfate-reducing and fermentative/methanogenic conditions was assessed. Using a group contribution method, the standard Gibbs free energy of phytosterols was calculated and used to perform theoretical energetic calculations. The oxidation of phytosterols under aerobic, nitrate-reducing, sulfate-reducing and methanogenic conditions was determined to be energetically feasible. However, using semi-continuously fed cultures maintained at 20-22 °C over 16 weekly feeding cycles (112 days; retention time, 21 days), phytosterol removal was observed under nitrate-reducing and sulfate-reducing conditions, but not under fermentative/methanogenic conditions. Under sulfate-reducing conditions, stigmast-4-en-3-one was identified as an intermediate of phytosterol biotransformation, a reaction more likely carried out by dehydrogenases/isomerases, previously reported to act on cholesterol under both oxic and anoxic (denitrifying) conditions. Further study of the biotransformation of phytosterols under anoxic/anaerobic conditions is necessary to delineate the factors and conditions leading to enhanced phytosterol biodegradation and the development of effective biological treatment systems for the removal of phytosterols from pulp and paper wastewaters and other phytosterol-bearing waste streams.

Cointegration rank testing under conditional heteroskedasticity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cavaliere, Giuseppe; Rahbek, Anders Christian; Taylor, Robert M.

2010-01-01

We analyze the properties of the conventional Gaussian-based cointegrating rank tests of Johansen (1996, Likelihood-Based Inference in Cointegrated Vector Autoregressive Models) in the case where the vector of series under test is driven by globally stationary, conditionally heteroskedastic......, relative to tests based on the asymptotic critical values or the i.i.d. bootstrap, the wild bootstrap rank tests perform very well in small samples under a variety of conditionally heteroskedastic innovation processes. An empirical application to the term structure of interest rates is given....

Complex Plasma Research Under Extreme Conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishihara, Osamu

2008-01-01

Complex plasma research under extreme conditions is described. The extreme conditions include low-dimensionality for self-organized structures of dust particles, dust magnetization in high magnetic field, criticality in phase transition, and cryogenic environment for Coulomb crystals and dust dynamics.

Glucose metabolism in Lactococcus lactis MG1363 under different aeration conditions: Requirement of acetate to sustain growth under microaerobic conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nordkvist, Mikkel; Jensen, N.B.S.; Villadsen, John

2003-01-01

Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis MG1363 was grown in batch cultures on a defined medium with glucose as the energy source under different aeration conditions, namely, anaerobic conditions, aerobic conditions, and microaerobic conditions with a dissolved oxygen tension of 5% (when saturation...... resulted in acetate, CO2, and acetoin replacing formate and ethanol as end products. Under microaerobic conditions, growth came to a gradual halt, although more than 60% of the glucose was still left. A decline in growth was not observed during microaerobic cultivation when acetate was added to the medium...

Information support of monitoring of technical condition of buildings in construction risk area

Science.gov (United States)

Skachkova, M. E.; Lepihina, O. Y.; Ignatova, V. V.

2018-05-01

The paper presents the results of the research devoted to the development of a model of information support of monitoring buildings technical condition; these buildings are located in the construction risk area. As a result of the visual and instrumental survey, as well as the analysis of existing approaches and techniques, attributive and cartographic databases have been created. These databases allow monitoring defects and damages of buildings located in a 30-meter risk area from the object under construction. The classification of structures and defects of these buildings under survey is presented. The functional capabilities of the developed model and the field of it practical applications are determined.

Evolutions of Yang Phase Under Cyclic Condition and Adiabatic Condition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qian Shangwu; Gu Zhiyu

2005-01-01

There are three non-integrable phases in literatures: Berry phase, Aharonov-Anandan phase, and Yang phase. This article discusses the evolutions of Yang phase under the cyclic condition and the adiabatic condition for the general time-dependent harmonic oscillator, thus reveals the intimate relations between these three non-integrable phases.

Forecasting the future risk of Barmah Forest virus disease under climate change scenarios in Queensland, Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Naish, Suchithra; Mengersen, Kerrie; Hu, Wenbiao; Tong, Shilu

2013-01-01

Mosquito-borne diseases are climate sensitive and there has been increasing concern over the impact of climate change on future disease risk. This paper projected the potential future risk of Barmah Forest virus (BFV) disease under climate change scenarios in Queensland, Australia. We obtained data on notified BFV cases, climate (maximum and minimum temperature and rainfall), socio-economic and tidal conditions for current period 2000-2008 for coastal regions in Queensland. Grid-data on future climate projections for 2025, 2050 and 2100 were also obtained. Logistic regression models were built to forecast the otential risk of BFV disease distribution under existing climatic, socio-economic and tidal conditions. The model was applied to estimate the potential geographic distribution of BFV outbreaks under climate change scenarios. The predictive model had good model accuracy, sensitivity and specificity. Maps on potential risk of future BFV disease indicated that disease would vary significantly across coastal regions in Queensland by 2100 due to marked differences in future rainfall and temperature projections. We conclude that the results of this study demonstrate that the future risk of BFV disease would vary across coastal regions in Queensland. These results may be helpful for public health decision making towards developing effective risk management strategies for BFV disease control and prevention programs in Queensland.

Risk management for sulfur dioxide abatement under multiple uncertainties

Science.gov (United States)

Dai, C.; Sun, W.; Tan, Q.; Liu, Y.; Lu, W. T.; Guo, H. C.

2016-03-01

In this study, interval-parameter programming, two-stage stochastic programming (TSP), and conditional value-at-risk (CVaR) were incorporated into a general optimization framework, leading to an interval-parameter CVaR-based two-stage programming (ICTP) method. The ICTP method had several advantages: (i) its objective function simultaneously took expected cost and risk cost into consideration, and also used discrete random variables and discrete intervals to reflect uncertain properties; (ii) it quantitatively evaluated the right tail of distributions of random variables which could better calculate the risk of violated environmental standards; (iii) it was useful for helping decision makers to analyze the trade-offs between cost and risk; and (iv) it was effective to penalize the second-stage costs, as well as to capture the notion of risk in stochastic programming. The developed model was applied to sulfur dioxide abatement in an air quality management system. The results indicated that the ICTP method could be used for generating a series of air quality management schemes under different risk-aversion levels, for identifying desired air quality management strategies for decision makers, and for considering a proper balance between system economy and environmental quality.

Dissipation of oxytetracycline in soils under different redox conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang Jigeng; Ying Guangguo; Zhou Lijun; Liu Shan; Zhao Jianliang

2009-01-01

This study investigated the dissipation kinetics of oxytetracycline in soils under aerobic and anoxic conditions. Laboratory experiments showed that the dissipation of oxytetracycline in soil followed first-order reaction kinetics and its dissipation rates decreased with increasing concentration. Oxytetracycline dissipated faster in soil under aerobic conditions than under anoxic conditions. The half-lives for oxytetracycline in soil under aerobic conditions ranged between 29 and 56 days for non-sterile treatments and 99-120 days for sterile treatments, while under anoxic conditions the half-lives of oxytetracycline ranged between 43 and 62 days in the non-sterile soil and between 69 and 104 days in the sterile soil. This suggests microbes can degrade oxytetracycline in agricultural soil. Abiotic factors such as strong sorption onto soil components also played a role in the dissipation of oxytetracycline in soil. - Oxytetracycline dissipation in soils is influenced by redox conditions and soil properties.

Dissipation of oxytetracycline in soils under different redox conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jigeng, Yang [State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 511 Kehua Street, Tianhe District, Guangzhou 510640 (China); Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University of Arts and Sciences, Changde 415000 (China); Ying Guangguo, E-mail: guangguo.ying@gmail.co [State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 511 Kehua Street, Tianhe District, Guangzhou 510640 (China); Lijun, Zhou; Shan, Liu; Jianliang, Zhao [State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 511 Kehua Street, Tianhe District, Guangzhou 510640 (China)

2009-10-15

This study investigated the dissipation kinetics of oxytetracycline in soils under aerobic and anoxic conditions. Laboratory experiments showed that the dissipation of oxytetracycline in soil followed first-order reaction kinetics and its dissipation rates decreased with increasing concentration. Oxytetracycline dissipated faster in soil under aerobic conditions than under anoxic conditions. The half-lives for oxytetracycline in soil under aerobic conditions ranged between 29 and 56 days for non-sterile treatments and 99-120 days for sterile treatments, while under anoxic conditions the half-lives of oxytetracycline ranged between 43 and 62 days in the non-sterile soil and between 69 and 104 days in the sterile soil. This suggests microbes can degrade oxytetracycline in agricultural soil. Abiotic factors such as strong sorption onto soil components also played a role in the dissipation of oxytetracycline in soil. - Oxytetracycline dissipation in soils is influenced by redox conditions and soil properties.

Multivariate Fréchet copulas and conditional value-at-risk

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Werner Hürlimann

2004-01-01

is similar but not identical to the convex family of Fréchet. It is shown that the distribution and stop-loss transform of dependent sums from this multivariate family can be evaluated using explicit integral formulas, and that these dependent sums are bounded in convex order between the corresponding independent and comonotone sums. The model is applied to the evaluation of the economic risk capital for a portfolio of risks using conditional value-at-risk measures. A multivariate conditional value-at-risk vector measure is considered. Its components coincide for the constructed multivariate copula with the conditional value-at-risk measures of the risk components of the portfolio. This yields a “fair” risk allocation in the sense that each risk component becomes allocated to its coherent conditional value-at-risk.

Shame in decision making under risk conditions: Understanding the effect of transparency

Science.gov (United States)

2018-01-01

The role played by the emotion of shame in the area of decision-making in situations of risk has hardly been studied. In this article, we show how the socio-moral emotions and the anticipated feeling of shame associated with different options can determine our decisions, even overriding the cognitive choice tendency proposed by the certainty effect. To do so, we carried out an experiment with university students as participants, dividing them into four experimental conditions. Our findings suggest that people avoid making unethical decisions, both when these decisions are made public to others and when they remain in the private sphere. This result seems to indicate that the main factor in not making unethical decisions is related to the need to avoid transgressing an internal moral standard of behavior, and that the role of transparency is less relevant than expected. However, we propose that, although the effect of transparency is limited in reducing unethical economic decisions, it should continue to be taken into account in theoretical models that address the reasons people behave unethically. PMID:29444107

Shame in decision making under risk conditions: Understanding the effect of transparency.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonavia, Tomas; Brox-Ponce, Josué

2018-01-01

The role played by the emotion of shame in the area of decision-making in situations of risk has hardly been studied. In this article, we show how the socio-moral emotions and the anticipated feeling of shame associated with different options can determine our decisions, even overriding the cognitive choice tendency proposed by the certainty effect. To do so, we carried out an experiment with university students as participants, dividing them into four experimental conditions. Our findings suggest that people avoid making unethical decisions, both when these decisions are made public to others and when they remain in the private sphere. This result seems to indicate that the main factor in not making unethical decisions is related to the need to avoid transgressing an internal moral standard of behavior, and that the role of transparency is less relevant than expected. However, we propose that, although the effect of transparency is limited in reducing unethical economic decisions, it should continue to be taken into account in theoretical models that address the reasons people behave unethically.

Shame in decision making under risk conditions: Understanding the effect of transparency.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomas Bonavia

Full Text Available The role played by the emotion of shame in the area of decision-making in situations of risk has hardly been studied. In this article, we show how the socio-moral emotions and the anticipated feeling of shame associated with different options can determine our decisions, even overriding the cognitive choice tendency proposed by the certainty effect. To do so, we carried out an experiment with university students as participants, dividing them into four experimental conditions. Our findings suggest that people avoid making unethical decisions, both when these decisions are made public to others and when they remain in the private sphere. This result seems to indicate that the main factor in not making unethical decisions is related to the need to avoid transgressing an internal moral standard of behavior, and that the role of transparency is less relevant than expected. However, we propose that, although the effect of transparency is limited in reducing unethical economic decisions, it should continue to be taken into account in theoretical models that address the reasons people behave unethically.

Differences of accommodative responses between two eyes under binocular viewing condition mediated by polarizing glasses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rui-Qing Wang

2016-04-01

Full Text Available AIM:To study the differences of accommodative responses between the two eyes under 3 different polarized viewing conditions. METHODS:Fifteen volunteers with emmetrope were recruited into this study(aged 18～38, 6 males and 9 females. Three different viewing conditions were set up by using polarizing glasses and liquid crystal display:(1right eye could see the visual target on the screen, but left eye cannot see it;(2left eye could see the visual target on the screen, but right eye cannot see it;(3both eyes could see the target. Accommodative responses were measured by infrared auto-refractor when fixating at the target at 5, 2, 1, 0.5 and 0.33m under the above 3 viewing conditions. The differences of accommodative responses under different viewing conditions were compared by using variance analysis of repeated measuring and t test. RESULTS:Significant differences of accommodative responses between the two eyes were found under condition(1and(2at all the fixating distance. The accommodative responses in used eyes which can see the visual target were higher than in non-used eyes which cannot see the visual target(PP>0.05. CONCLUSION:Ciliary muscles in the used eyes were more relatively tonic than non-used eyes under binocular open viewing condition. The imbalance of accommodative responses between two eyes may be one of the risk factors resulting into the occurrence of myopia.

Neural correlates of value, risk, and risk aversion contributing to decision making under risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Christopoulos, George I; Tobler, Philippe N; Bossaerts, Peter; Dolan, Raymond J; Schultz, Wolfram

2009-10-07

Decision making under risk is central to human behavior. Economic decision theory suggests that value, risk, and risk aversion influence choice behavior. Although previous studies identified neural correlates of decision parameters, the contribution of these correlates to actual choices is unknown. In two different experiments, participants chose between risky and safe options. We identified discrete blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) correlates of value and risk in the ventral striatum and anterior cingulate, respectively. Notably, increasing inferior frontal gyrus activity to low risk and safe options correlated with higher risk aversion. Importantly, the combination of these BOLD responses effectively decoded the behavioral choice. Striatal value and cingulate risk responses increased the probability of a risky choice, whereas inferior frontal gyrus responses showed the inverse relationship. These findings suggest that the BOLD correlates of decision factors are appropriate for an ideal observer to detect behavioral choices. More generally, these biological data contribute to the validity of the theoretical decision parameters for actual decisions under risk.

Environmental risk of climate change and groundwater abstraction on stream ecological conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Seaby, Lauren Paige; Bøgh, Eva; Jensen, Niels H.

with DAISY, a one dimensional crop model describing soil water dynamics in the root zone, and MIKE SHE, a distributed groundwater-surface water model. The relative and combined impacts on low flows, groundwater levels, and nitrate leaching are quantified and compared to assess the water resource sensitivity...... and risk to stream ecological conditions. We find low flow and annual discharge to be most impacted by scenarios of climate change, with high variation across climate models (+/- 40% change). Doubling of current groundwater abstraction rates reduces annual discharge by approximately 20%, with higher...... flows and groundwater levels are of interest, as they relate to aquatic habitat and nitrate leaching, respectively. This study evaluates the risk to stream ecological conditions for a lowland Danish catchment under multiple scenarios of climate change and groundwater abstraction. Projections of future...

Robust Production Planning in Fashion Apparel Industry under Demand Uncertainty via Conditional Value at Risk

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abderrahim Ait-Alla

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a mathematical model for robust production planning. The model helps fashion apparel suppliers in making decisions concerning allocation of production orders to different production plants characterized by different lead times and production costs, and in proper time scheduling and sequencing of these production orders. The model aims at optimizing these decisions concerning objectives of minimal production costs and minimal tardiness. It considers several factors such as the stochastic nature of customer demand, differences in production and transport costs and transport times between production plants in different regions. Finally, the model is applied to a case study. The results of numerical computations are presented. The implications of the model results on different fashion related product types and delivery strategies, as well as the model’s limitations and potentials for expansion, are discussed. Results indicate that the production planning model using conditional value at risk (CVaR as the risk measure performs robustly and provides flexibility in decision analysis between different scenarios.

The Efficacy of Blue-Green Infrastructure for Pluvial Flood Prevention under Conditions of Deep Uncertainty

Science.gov (United States)

Babovic, Filip; Mijic, Ana; Madani, Kaveh

2017-04-01

Urban areas around the world are growing in size and importance; however, cities experience elevated risks of pluvial flooding due to the prevalence of impermeable land surfaces within them. Urban planners and engineers encounter a great deal of uncertainty when planning adaptations to these flood risks, due to the interaction of multiple factors such as climate change and land use change. This leads to conditions of deep uncertainty. Blue-Green (BG) solutions utilise natural vegetation and processes to absorb and retain runoff while providing a host of other social, economic and environmental services. When utilised in conjunction with Decision Making under Deep Uncertainty (DMDU) methodologies, BG infrastructure provides a flexible and adaptable method of "no-regret" adaptation; resulting in a practical, economically efficient, and socially acceptable solution for flood risk mitigation. This work presents the methodology for analysing the impact of BG infrastructure in the context of the Adaptation Tipping Points approach to protect against pluvial flood risk in an iterative manner. An economic analysis of the adaptation pathways is also conducted in order to better inform decision-makers on the benefits and costs of the adaptation options presented. The methodology was applied to a case study in the Cranbrook Catchment in the North East of London. Our results show that BG infrastructure performs better under conditions of uncertainty than traditional grey infrastructure.

Noise exposure under hyperbaric conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-03-01

Objective evidence exists that divers demonstrate a hearing deficit greater than would be expected from ageing effects alone. Deafness in divers may be caused by a number of factors other than exposure to excessive noise levels, eg barotrauma, ear infection etc. This review concentrates on the concern that exposure of commercial divers to noise while at work may cause a hearing deficit. Sound pressure levels recorded both underwater and in diving chambers often exceed those allowable to workers onshore. However, the sound perceived by the diver is modified both in amplitude and in frequency when he is either underwater or in pressurised chambers. Broadly the effect of this modification is to attenuate the sound and thus offer some protection from high noise levels. The degree of attentuation varies with the frequency of the sound, however it is also possible under specific conditions associated with gas density for the sensitivity to particular frequencies to be amplified above that for normal atmospheric air. The levels of sound observed from some underwater tools are of concern even after allowing for a significant de-sensitisation of the divers` hearing. Reports of tinnitus and temporary hearing loss following a dive are sure signs that the noise levels have been harmful. It is not possible at present to describe risk criteria for hearing damage due to noise exposure associated with diving. (author)

Sorption of neptunium under oxidizing and reducing groundwater conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hakanen, M.

1991-01-01

Sorption of neptunium was studied under aerobic, anoxic and reducing groundwater conditions using solutions with initial Np concentrations of 10 -14 to 10 -8 mol/l. Under aerobic conditions the sorption was the same for all concentrations. Under anoxic conditions the same proportion of neptunium (70-80%) was removed from the water. The neptunium sorbed on rock surfaces was of mixed oxidation states. Only Np(V) was found in waters. Under reducing groundwater conditions, nearly all the neptunium was removed from water. The sorbed neptunium was at first almost completely in the form of Np(IV). The submicrogram amounts of neptunium were partly oxidized with time, but Np(V) did not dissolve in reducing water. The holding oxidant character of the tonalite to Np(V) and, the holding reductant character of rocks to small amounts of Np(IV), was demonstrated under anaerobic and reducing groundwater conditions, respectively. (orig.)

Transient burnout under rapid flow reduction condition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iwamura, Takamichi

1987-01-01

Burnout characteristics were experimentally studied using uniformly heated tube and annular test sections under rapid flow reduction conditions. Observations indicated that the onset of burnout under a flow reduction transient is caused by the dryout of a liquid film on the heated surface. The decrease in burnout mass velocity at the channel inlet with increasing flow reduction rate is attributed to the fact that the vapor flow rate continues to increase and sustain the liquid film flow after the inlet flow rate reaches the steady-state burnout flow rate. This is because the movement of the boiling boundary cannot keep up with the rapid reduction of inlet flow rate. A burnout model for the local condition could be applied to the burnout phenomena with the flow reduction under pressures of 0.5 ∼ 3.9 MPa and flow reduction rates of 0.6 ∼ 35 %/s. Based on this model, a method to predict the burnout time under a flow reduction condition was presented. The calculated burnout times agreed well with experimental results obtained by some investigators. (author)

Forecasting the future risk of Barmah Forest virus disease under climate change scenarios in Queensland, Australia.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suchithra Naish

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Mosquito-borne diseases are climate sensitive and there has been increasing concern over the impact of climate change on future disease risk. This paper projected the potential future risk of Barmah Forest virus (BFV disease under climate change scenarios in Queensland, Australia. METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We obtained data on notified BFV cases, climate (maximum and minimum temperature and rainfall, socio-economic and tidal conditions for current period 2000-2008 for coastal regions in Queensland. Grid-data on future climate projections for 2025, 2050 and 2100 were also obtained. Logistic regression models were built to forecast the otential risk of BFV disease distribution under existing climatic, socio-economic and tidal conditions. The model was applied to estimate the potential geographic distribution of BFV outbreaks under climate change scenarios. The predictive model had good model accuracy, sensitivity and specificity. Maps on potential risk of future BFV disease indicated that disease would vary significantly across coastal regions in Queensland by 2100 due to marked differences in future rainfall and temperature projections. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We conclude that the results of this study demonstrate that the future risk of BFV disease would vary across coastal regions in Queensland. These results may be helpful for public health decision making towards developing effective risk management strategies for BFV disease control and prevention programs in Queensland.

Quantitative risk stratification in Markov chains with limiting conditional distributions.

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, David C; Pollett, Philip K; Weinstein, Milton C

2009-01-01

Many clinical decisions require patient risk stratification. The authors introduce the concept of limiting conditional distributions, which describe the equilibrium proportion of surviving patients occupying each disease state in a Markov chain with death. Such distributions can quantitatively describe risk stratification. The authors first establish conditions for the existence of a positive limiting conditional distribution in a general Markov chain and describe a framework for risk stratification using the limiting conditional distribution. They then apply their framework to a clinical example of a treatment indicated for high-risk patients, first to infer the risk of patients selected for treatment in clinical trials and then to predict the outcomes of expanding treatment to other populations of risk. For the general chain, a positive limiting conditional distribution exists only if patients in the earliest state have the lowest combined risk of progression or death. The authors show that in their general framework, outcomes and population risk are interchangeable. For the clinical example, they estimate that previous clinical trials have selected the upper quintile of patient risk for this treatment, but they also show that expanded treatment would weakly dominate this degree of targeted treatment, and universal treatment may be cost-effective. Limiting conditional distributions exist in most Markov models of progressive diseases and are well suited to represent risk stratification quantitatively. This framework can characterize patient risk in clinical trials and predict outcomes for other populations of risk.

Enterprise strategic development under conditions of uncertainty

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O.L. Truhan

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The author points out the necessity to conduct researches in the field of enterprise strategic development under conditions of increased dynamism and uncertainty of external environment. It is determined that under conditions of external uncertainty it’s reasonable to conduct the strategic planning of entities using the life cycle models of organization and planning on the basis of disclosure. Any organization has to react in a flexible way upon external calls applying the cognitive knowledge about its own business model of development and the ability to intensify internal working reserves. The article determines that in the process of long-term business activity planning managers use traditional approaches based on the familiar facts and conditions that the present tendencies will not be subjected to essential changes in the future. Planning a new risky business one has to act when prerequisites and assumptions are predominant over knowledge. The author proves that under such conditions the powerful tool of enterprise strategic development may be such a well-known approach as “planning on the basis of disclosure”. The approach suggested helps take into account numerous factors of uncertainty of external environment that makes the strategic planning process maximum adaptable to the conditions of venture business development.

Risk-taking under progressive taxation

OpenAIRE

Bamberg, Günter

1988-01-01

Risk-taking under progressive taxation : 3 partial effects / Günter Bamberg ; Wolfram R. Richter. - In: Measurement in economics / ed. by Wolfgang Eichhorn. - Heidelberg : Physica-Verl., 1988. - S. 479-497

Fuel corrosion processes under waste disposal conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shoesmith, D.W.

2000-01-01

The release of the majority of radionuclides from spent nuclear fuel under permanent disposal conditions will be controlled by the rate of dissolution of the UO 2 fuel matrix. In this manuscript the mechanism of the coupled anodic (fuel dissolution) and cathodic (oxidant reduction) reactions which constitute the overall fuel corrosion process is reviewed, and the many published observations on fuel corrosion under disposal conditions discussed. The primary emphasis is on summarizing the overall mechanistic behaviour and establishing the primary factors likely to control fuel corrosion. Included are discussions on the influence of various oxidants including radiolytic ones, pH, temperature, groundwater composition, and the formation of corrosion product deposits. The relevance of the data recorded on unirradiated UO 2 to the interpretation of spent fuel behaviour is included. Based on the review, the data used to develop fuel corrosion models under the conditions anticipated in Yucca Mountain (NV, USA) are evaluated

Selected medical conditions and risk of pancreatic cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Olson, Sara H

2012-01-01

We review the current evidence for associations of several medical conditions with risk of pancreatic cancer, including allergies, pancreatitis, gall bladder disease, cholecystectomy, ulcers, gastrectomy, appendectomy, and tonsillectomy. There are consistent findings of reduced risk associated with presence of self-reported allergies, particularly hay fever but not asthma; data on other allergies are limited and inconclusive. Several studies provide evidence that patients with pancreatic cancer are more likely than comparison groups to report pancreatitis. Those studies that investigated the time between onset of pancreatitis and diagnosis of pancreatic cancer found that risk estimates declined with longer periods of time; however, increased risks were noted for long-term pancreatitis, indicating that this condition is both a risk factor and a sign of early disease. Increased risk was reported in association with cholelithiasis, but the few studies that considered time before diagnosis of cancer did not find increased risk for cholelithiasis diagnosed in the more distant past. There is weak evidence that cholecystectomy 2 or more years before cancer diagnosis is related to risk, but this is based on only a few studies. There is no consistent association between ulcers and risk, while gastrectomy may increase risk. Overall, study of these conditions, particularly those that are rare, presents methodologic challenges. Time between diagnoses is likely to be important but is not considered in most studies. Lack of adequate control in several studies for risk factors such as smoking and heavy alcohol use also makes it difficult to draw firm conclusions about these results. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Optimizing BTEX biodegradation under denitrifying conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hutchins, S.R.

1991-01-01

Leaking underground storage tanks are a major source of ground water contamination by petroleum hydrocarbons. Gasoline and other fuels contain benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (collectively known as BTEX), which are hazardous compounds, regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Laboratory tests were conducted to determine optimum conditions for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (collectively known as BTEX) biodegradation by aquifer microorganisms under denitrifying conditions. Microcosms, constructed with aquifer samples from Traverse City, Michigan, were amended with selected concentrations of nutrients and one or more hydrocarbons. Toluene, ethylbenzene, m-xylene, and p-xylene, were degraded to below 5 micrograms/L when present as sole source substrates; stoichiometric calculations indicated that nitrate removal was sufficient to account for 70 to 80% of the compounds being mineralized. o-Xylene was recalcitrant when present as a sole source substrate, but was slowly degraded in the presence of the other hydrocarbons. Benzene was not degraded within one year, regardless of whether it was available as a sole source substrate or in combination with toluene, phenol, or catechol. Pre-exposure to low levels of BTEX and nutrients had variable effects, as did the addition of different concentrations of ammonia and phosphate. Nitrate concentrations as high as 500 mg/L NO3-N were slightly inhibitory. These data indicate that nitrate-mediated biodegradation of BTEX at Traverse City can occur under a variety of environmental conditions with rates relatively independent of nutrient concentrations. However, the data reaffirm that benzene is recalcitrant under strictly anaerobic conditions in these samples

Biodegradation of NSO-compounds under different redox-conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dyreborg, S.; Arvin, E.; Broholm, K.

1997-01-01

Laboratory experiments were carried out to investigate the potential of groundwater microorganisms to degrade selected heterocyclic aromatic compounds containing nitrogen, sulphur, or oxygen (NSO-compounds) under four redox-conditions over a period of 846 days. Eight compounds (pyrrole, 1...... anaerobic conditions, even though the microorganisms present in the anaerobic microcosms were active throughout the incubation period. A high variability in the lag period among the NSO-compounds was observed under aerobic conditions. While quinoline, indole, and carbazole were degraded with a lag period...

Farm decision making under risk and uncertainty.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Backus, G.B.C.; Eidman, V.R.; Dijkhuizen, A.A.

1997-01-01

Relevant portions of the risk literature are reviewed, relating them to observed behaviour in farm decision-making. Relevant topics for applied agricultural risk research are proposed. The concept of decision making under risk and uncertainty is discussed by reviewing the theory of Subjective

Gender differences in the link between childhood socioeconomic conditions and heart attack risk in adulthood.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamil-Luker, Jenifer; O'Rand, Angela M

2007-02-01

A growing body of evidence shows that childhood socioeconomic status (SES) is predictive of disease risk in later life, with those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds more likely to experience poor adult-health outcomes. Most of these studies, however are based on middle-aged male populations and pay insufficient attention to the pathways between childhood risks and specific adult disorders. This article examines gender differences in the link between childhood SES and heart attack risk trajectories and the mechanisms by which early environments affect future disease risk. By using methods that model both latent and path-specific influences, we identify heterogeneity in early life conditions and human, social, and health capital in adulthood that contribute to diverse heart attack risk trajectories between and among men and women as they age into their 60s and 70s. We find that key risk factors for heart attack operate differently for men and women. For men, childhood SES does not differentiate those at low, increasing, and high risk for heart attack. In contrast, women who grew up without a father and/or under adverse economic conditions are the most likely to experience elevated risk for heart attack, even after we adjust for the unequal distribution of working and living conditions, social relationships, access to health care, and adult lifestyle behaviors that influence health outcomes.

The influence of emotion regulation on decision-making under risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Laura N; Delgado, Mauricio R

2011-09-01

Cognitive strategies typically involved in regulating negative emotions have recently been shown to also be effective with positive emotions associated with monetary rewards. However, it is less clear how these strategies influence behavior, such as preferences expressed during decision-making under risk, and the underlying neural circuitry. That is, can the effective use of emotion regulation strategies during presentation of a reward-conditioned stimulus influence decision-making under risk and neural structures involved in reward processing such as the striatum? To investigate this question, we asked participants to engage in imagery-focused regulation strategies during the presentation of a cue that preceded a financial decision-making phase. During the decision phase, participants then made a choice between a risky and a safe monetary lottery. Participants who successfully used cognitive regulation, as assessed by subjective ratings about perceived success and facility in implementation of strategies, made fewer risky choices in comparison with trials where decisions were made in the absence of cognitive regulation. Additionally, BOLD responses in the striatum were attenuated during decision-making as a function of successful emotion regulation. These findings suggest that exerting cognitive control over emotional responses can modulate neural responses associated with reward processing (e.g., striatum) and promote more goal-directed decision-making (e.g., less risky choices), illustrating the potential importance of cognitive strategies in curbing risk-seeking behaviors before they become maladaptive (e.g., substance abuse).

The Influence of Emotion Regulation on Decision-making under Risk

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Laura N.; Delgado, Mauricio R.

2011-01-01

Cognitive strategies typically involved in regulating negative emotions have recently been shown to also be effective with positive emotions associated with monetary rewards. However, it is less clear how these strategies influence behavior, such as preferences expressed during decision-making under risk, and the underlying neural circuitry. That is, can the effective use of emotion regulation strategies during presentation of a reward-conditioned stimulus influence decision-making under risk and neural structures involved in reward processing such as the striatum? To investigate this question, we asked participants to engage in imagery-focused regulation strategies during the presentation of a cue that preceded a financial decision-making phase. During the decision phase, participants then made a choice between a risky and a safe monetary lottery. Participants who successfully used cognitive regulation, as assessed by subjective ratings about perceived success and facility in implementation of strategies, made fewer risky choices in comparison to trials where decisions were made in the absence of cognitive regulation. Additionally, blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) responses in the striatum were attenuated during decision-making as a function of successful emotion regulation. These findings suggest that exerting cognitive control over emotional responses can modulate neural responses associated with reward processing (e.g., striatum), and promote more goal-directed decision-making (e.g., less risky choices), illustrating the potential importance of cognitive strategies in curbing risk-seeking behaviors before they become maladaptive (e.g., substance abuse). PMID:21254801

Energy use and overheating risk of Swedish multi-storey residential buildings under different climate scenarios

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dodoo, Ambrose; Gustavsson, Leif

2016-01-01

In this study, the extent to which different climate scenarios influence overheating risk, energy use and peak loads for space conditioning of district heated multi-storey buildings in Sweden are explored. Furthermore, the effectiveness of different overheating control measures and the implications of different electricity supply options for space cooling and ventilation are investigated. The analysis is based on buildings with different architectural and energy efficiency configurations including a prefab concrete-frame, a massive timber-frame and a light timber-frame building. Thermal performance of the buildings under low and high Representative Concentration Pathway climate scenarios for 2050–2059 and 2090–2099 are analysed and compared to that under historical climate of 1961–1990 and recent climate of 1996–2005. The study is based on a bottom-up methodology and includes detailed hour-by-hour energy balance and systems analyses. The results show significant changes in the buildings’ thermal performance under the future climate scenarios, relative to the historical and recent climates. Heating demand decreased significantly while cooling demand and overheating risk increased considerably with the future climate scenarios, for all buildings. In contrast to the cooling demand, the relative changes in heating demand of the buildings under the future climate scenarios are somewhat similar. The changes in the space conditioning demands and overheating risk vary for the buildings. Overheating risk was found to be slightly higher for the massive-frame building and slightly lower for the light-frame building. - Highlights: • We analysed thermal performance of buildings under different climate scenarios. • Our analysis is based on historical, recent and projected future climate datasets. • The buildings' thermal performance changed notably under future climate scenarios. • The extent of the changes is influenced by the buildings' energy efficiency

Torque and power outputs on different subjects during manual wheelchair propulsion under different conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Hwang, Seonhong; Kim, Seunghyeon; Son, Jongsang; Kim, Youngho

2012-02-01

Manual wheelchair users are at a high risk of pain and injuries to the upper extremities due to mechanical inefficiency of wheelchair propulsion motion. The kinetic analysis of the upper extremities during manual wheelchair propulsion in various conditions needed to be investigated. We developed and calibrated a wheelchair dynamometer for measuring kinetic parameters during propulsion. We utilized the dynamometer to investigate and compare the propulsion torque and power values of experienced and novice users under four different conditions. Experienced wheelchair users generated lower torques with more power than novice users and reacted alertly and sensitively to changing conditions. We expect that these basic methods and results may help to quantitatively evaluate the mechanical efficiency of manual wheelchair propulsion.

Assessing predation risks for small fish in a large river ecosystem between contrasting habitats and turbidity conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Dodrill, Michael J.; Yard, Mike; Pine, William E.

2016-01-01

This study examined predation risk for juvenile native fish between two riverine shoreline habitats, backwater and debris fan, across three discrete turbidity levels (low, intermediate, high) to understand environmental risks associated with habitat use in a section of the Colorado River in Grand Canyon, AZ. Inferences are particularly important to juvenile native fish, including the federally endangered humpback chub Gila cypha. This species uses a variety of habitats including backwaters which are often considered important rearing areas. Densities of two likely predators, adult rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss and adult humpback chub, were estimated between habitats using binomial mixture models to examine whether higher predator density was associated with patterns of predation risk. Tethering experiments were used to quantify relative predation risk between habitats and turbidity conditions. Under low and intermediate turbidity conditions, debris fan habitat showed higher relative predation risk compared to backwaters. In both habitats the highest predation risk was observed during intermediate turbidity conditions. Density of likely predators did not significantly differ between these habitats. This information can help managers in Grand Canyon weigh flow policy options designed to increase backwater availability or extant turbidity conditions.

Forecasting Investment Risks in Conditions of Uncertainty

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrenko Elena A.

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The article is aimed at studying the topical problem of evaluation and forecasting risks of investment activity of enterprises in conditions of uncertainty. Generalizing the researches on qualitative and quantitative methods for evaluating investment risks has helped to reveal certain shortcomings of the proposed approaches, to note in most of the publications there are no results as to any practical application, and to allocate promising directions. On the basis of the theory of fuzzy sets, a model of forecasting the expected risk has been proposed, making use of the Gauss membership function, which has certain advantages over the multi-angular membership functions. Dependences of investment risk from the parameters characterizing the investment project have been obtained. Using the formulas obtained, the total risk of investing in innovation project depending on the boundary conditions has been defined. As the researched target, index of profitability has been selected. The model provides the potential investors and developers with forecasting possible scenarios of investment process to make informed managerial decisions about the appropriateness of introduction and implementation of a project.

Bell inequalities under non-ideal conditions

OpenAIRE

Especial, João N. C.

2012-01-01

Bell inequalities applicable to non-ideal EPRB experiments are critical to the interpretation of experimental Bell tests. In this article it is shown that previous treatments of this subject are incorrect due to an implicit assumption and new inequalities are derived under general conditions. Published experimental evidence is reinterpreted under these results and found to be entirely compatible with local-realism, both, when experiments involve inefficient detection, if fair-sampling detecti...

Decision making under ambiguity and under risk in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy.

Science.gov (United States)

Delazer, Margarete; Zamarian, Laura; Bonatti, Elisabeth; Kuchukhidze, Giorgi; Koppelstätter, Florian; Bodner, Thomas; Benke, Thomas; Trinka, Eugen

2010-01-01

Decision making is essential in everyday life. Though the importance of the mesial temporal lobe in emotional processing and feedback learning is generally recognized, decision making in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE) is almost unexplored so far. Twenty-eight consecutive epilepsy patients with drug resistant mTLE and fifty healthy controls performed decision tasks under initial ambiguity (participants have to learn by feedback to make advantageous decisions) and under risk (advantageous choices may be made by estimating risks and by rational strategies). A subgroup analysis compared the performance of patients affected by MRI-verified abnormalities of the hippocampus or amygdala. The effect of lesion side was also assessed. In decision under ambiguity, mTLE patients showed marked deficits and did not improve over the task. Patients with hippocampus abnormality and patients with amygdala abnormality showed comparable deficits. No difference was found between right and left TLE groups. In decision under risk, mTLE patients performed at the same level as controls. Results suggest that mTLE patients have difficulties in learning from feedback and in making decisions in uncertain, ambiguous situations. By contrast, they are able to make advantageous decisions when full information is given and risks, possible gains and losses are exactly defined.

The risk of hydrogen embrittlement in high-strength prestressing steels under cathodic protection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Isecke, B.; Mietz, J. (Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin (Germany))

1993-01-01

High strength prestressing steels in prestressed concrete structures are protected against corrosion due to passivation resulting from the high alkalinity of the concrete. If depassivation of the prestressing steel occurs due to the ingress of chlorides the corrosion risk can be minimized by application of cathodic protection with impressed current. The risk of hydrogen embrittlement of the prestressing steel is especially pronounced if overprotection is applied due to hydrogen evolution in the cathodic reaction. The present work considers this risk by hydrogen activity measurements under practical conditions and application of different levels of cathodic protection potentials. Information on threshold potentials in prestressed concrete structures is provided, too. (orig.).

Expected Business Conditions and Bond Risk Premia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eriksen, Jonas Nygaard

2017-01-01

In this article, I study the predictability of bond risk premia by means of expectations to future business conditions using survey forecasts from the Survey of Professional Forecasters. I show that expected business conditions consistently affect excess bond returns and that the inclusion of exp...

Gait parameter risk factors for falls under simple and dual task conditions in cognitively impaired older people.

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Morag E; Delbaere, Kim; Mikolaizak, A Stefanie; Lord, Stephen R; Close, Jacqueline C T

2013-01-01

Impaired gait may contribute to the increased rate of falls in cognitively impaired older people. We investigated whether gait under simple and dual task conditions could predict falls in this group. The study sample consisted of 64 community dwelling older people with mild to moderate cognitive impairment. Participants walked at their preferred speed under three conditions: (a) simple walking, (b) walking while carrying a glass of water and (c) walking while counting backwards from 30. Spatiotemporal gait parameters were measured using the GAITRite(®) mat. Falls were recorded prospectively for 12months with the assistance of carers. Twenty-two (35%) people fell two or more times in the 12month follow-up period. There was a significant main effect of gait condition and a significant main effect of faller status for mean value measures (velocity, stride length, double support time and stride width) and for variability measures (swing time variability and stride length variability). Examination of individual gait parameters indicated that the multiple fallers walked more slowly, had shorter stride length, spent longer time in double support, had a wider support width and showed more variability in stride length and swing time (p<0.05). There was no significant interaction between gait condition and faller status for any of the gait variables. In conclusion, dual task activities adversely affect gait in cognitively impaired older people. Multiple fallers performed worse in each gait condition but the addition of a functional or cognitive secondary task provided no added benefit in discriminating fallers from non-fallers with cognitive impairment. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

THE ADJUSTEMENT OF THE BANKING MECHANISM FOR FINANCING ECONOMY UNDER CRISIS CONDITIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Istrate Luminita Gabriela

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Development of complex financial products and necessity of reducing the costs encourages the creation of groups with multiple activities in the financial sector. Structures of financial group are also present in Romanian, and most of them are part of the international groups, provided that the financial capital is mainly foreign. Both the benefits as well as the risks associated to the financial groups present in Romania are limited due to their orientation mainly mono-sectorial (very high weight kept by the credit institutions. The National Bank of Romania has an intrinsic role for maintaining the financial stability, taking into consideration the responsibilities that result from its double aspect of monetary and prudential authority. The attributions afferent to the objectives of financial stability are exercised by prudential supervision and regulation of the institutions under its authority, as well as by formulation and efficient transmission of the measures of monetary politics and supervision of functioning under optimum conditions of the payment and reimbursement systems systemically important. At the same time, it is necessary the identification of risks and vulnerabilities of the entire financial system, on the whole and separately, because the financial stability monitoring is preventive. The occurrence and development of some malfunctions, like the incorrect evaluation of risks and inefficiency of capital allocation can affect the stability of the financial and economic system.

Diesel soot oxidation under controlled conditions

OpenAIRE

Song, Haiwen

2003-01-01

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University, 11/12/2003. In order to improve understanding of diesel soot oxidation, an experimental rig was designed and set up, in which the soot oxidation conditions, such as temperature, oxygen partial pressure, and CO2 partial pressure, could be varied independently of each other. The oxidizing gas flow in the oxidizer was under laminar condition. This test rig comprised a naturally-aspirated single ...

Scram reliability under seismic conditions at the Experimental Breeder Reactor II

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roglans, J.; Wang, C.Y.; Hill, D.J.

1993-01-01

A Probabilistic Risk Assessment of the Experimental Breeder Reactor II has recently been completed. Seismic events are among the external initiating events included in the assessment. As part of the seismic PRA a detailed study has been performed of the ability to shutdown the reactor under seismic conditions. A comprehensive finite element model of the EBR-II control rod drive system has been used to analyze the control rod system response when subjected to input seismic accelerators. The results indicate the control rod drive system has a high seismic capacity. The estimated seismic fragility for the overall reactor shutdown system is dominated by the primary tank failure

Assessing reservoir operations risk under climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Brekke, L.D.; Maurer, E.P.; Anderson, J.D.; Dettinger, M.D.; Townsley, E.S.; Harrison, A.; Pruitt, T.

2009-01-01

Risk-based planning offers a robust way to identify strategies that permit adaptive water resources management under climate change. This paper presents a flexible methodology for conducting climate change risk assessments involving reservoir operations. Decision makers can apply this methodology to their systems by selecting future periods and risk metrics relevant to their planning questions and by collectively evaluating system impacts relative to an ensemble of climate projection scenarios (weighted or not). This paper shows multiple applications of this methodology in a case study involving California's Central Valley Project and State Water Project systems. Multiple applications were conducted to show how choices made in conducting the risk assessment, choices known as analytical design decisions, can affect assessed risk. Specifically, risk was reanalyzed for every choice combination of two design decisions: (1) whether to assume climate change will influence flood-control constraints on water supply operations (and how), and (2) whether to weight climate change scenarios (and how). Results show that assessed risk would motivate different planning pathways depending on decision-maker attitudes toward risk (e.g., risk neutral versus risk averse). Results also show that assessed risk at a given risk attitude is sensitive to the analytical design choices listed above, with the choice of whether to adjust flood-control rules under climate change having considerably more influence than the choice on whether to weight climate scenarios. Copyright 2009 by the American Geophysical Union.

Mathematical Modeling of Wastewater Oxidation under Microgravity Conditions

OpenAIRE

Boyun Guo; Donald W. Holder; David S. Schechter

2005-01-01

Volatile removal assembly (VRA) is a module installed in the International Space Station for removing contaminants (volatile organics) in the wastewater produced by the crew. The VRA contains a slim pack bed reactor to perform catalyst oxidation of the wastewater at elevated pressure and temperature under microgravity conditions. Optimal design of the reactor requires a thorough understanding about how the reactor performs under microgravity conditions. The objective of this study was to theo...

Changes in Concurrent Risk of Warm and Dry Years under Impact of Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

Sarhadi, A.; Wiper, M.; Touma, D. E.; Ausín, M. C.; Diffenbaugh, N. S.

2017-12-01

Anthropogenic global warming has changed the nature and the risk of extreme climate phenomena. The changing concurrence of multiple climatic extremes (warm and dry years) may result in intensification of undesirable consequences for water resources, human and ecosystem health, and environmental equity. The present study assesses how global warming influences the probability that warm and dry years co-occur in a global scale. In the first step of the study a designed multivariate Mann-Kendall trend analysis is used to detect the areas in which the concurrence of warm and dry years has increased in the historical climate records and also climate models in the global scale. The next step investigates the concurrent risk of the extremes under dynamic nonstationary conditions. A fully generalized multivariate risk framework is designed to evolve through time under dynamic nonstationary conditions. In this methodology, Bayesian, dynamic copulas are developed to model the time-varying dependence structure between the two different climate extremes (warm and dry years). The results reveal an increasing trend in the concurrence risk of warm and dry years, which are in agreement with the multivariate trend analysis from historical and climate models. In addition to providing a novel quantification of the changing probability of compound extreme events, the results of this study can help decision makers develop short- and long-term strategies to prepare for climate stresses now and in the future.

Estimation of value at risk and conditional value at risk using normal mixture distributions model

Science.gov (United States)

Kamaruzzaman, Zetty Ain; Isa, Zaidi

2013-04-01

Normal mixture distributions model has been successfully applied in financial time series analysis. In this paper, we estimate the return distribution, value at risk (VaR) and conditional value at risk (CVaR) for monthly and weekly rates of returns for FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBMKLCI) from July 1990 until July 2010 using the two component univariate normal mixture distributions model. First, we present the application of normal mixture distributions model in empirical finance where we fit our real data. Second, we present the application of normal mixture distributions model in risk analysis where we apply the normal mixture distributions model to evaluate the value at risk (VaR) and conditional value at risk (CVaR) with model validation for both risk measures. The empirical results provide evidence that using the two components normal mixture distributions model can fit the data well and can perform better in estimating value at risk (VaR) and conditional value at risk (CVaR) where it can capture the stylized facts of non-normality and leptokurtosis in returns distribution.

Risk assessment under deep uncertainty: A methodological comparison

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shortridge, Julie; Aven, Terje; Guikema, Seth

2017-01-01

Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) has proven to be an invaluable tool for evaluating risks in complex engineered systems. However, there is increasing concern that PRA may not be adequate in situations with little underlying knowledge to support probabilistic representation of uncertainties. As analysts and policy makers turn their attention to deeply uncertain hazards such as climate change, a number of alternatives to traditional PRA have been proposed. This paper systematically compares three diverse approaches for risk analysis under deep uncertainty (qualitative uncertainty factors, probability bounds, and robust decision making) in terms of their representation of uncertain quantities, analytical output, and implications for risk management. A simple example problem is used to highlight differences in the way that each method relates to the traditional risk assessment process and fundamental issues associated with risk assessment and description. We find that the implications for decision making are not necessarily consistent between approaches, and that differences in the representation of uncertain quantities and analytical output suggest contexts in which each method may be most appropriate. Finally, each methodology demonstrates how risk assessment can inform decision making in deeply uncertain contexts, informing more effective responses to risk problems characterized by deep uncertainty. - Highlights: • We compare three diverse approaches to risk assessment under deep uncertainty. • A simple example problem highlights differences in analytical process and results. • Results demonstrate how methodological choices can impact risk assessment results.

Research on Condition Assessment Method of Transmission Tower Under the Action of Strong Wind

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Ren-mou; An, Li-qiang; Zhang, Rong-lun; Wu, Jiong; Liang, Ya-feng

2018-03-01

Transmission towers are often subjected to the external damage of severe weather like strong wind and so on, which may cause the collapse due to the yield and fracture of the tower material. Aiming this issue, an assessment method was proposed in this paper to assess the operation condition of transmission towers under strong wind. With a reasonable assess index system established firstly, then the internal force of the tower material was solved and its stability was determined through the mechanical analysis of the transmission tower finite element model. Meanwhile, the condition risk level of the tower was finally determined by considering the difference among the influences of other factors like corrosion and loose of members, slope on the transmission tower through the analytic hierarchy process. The assessment method was applied to assess the wind-induced collapse of towers in 110kV Bao Yi II line in Wenchang City, Hainan Province, of which the result proves the method can assess the condition of transmission tower under strong wind and of guiding significance for improving the windproof capability of transmission towers.

Analytical methods under emergency conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sedlet, J.

1983-01-01

This lecture discusses methods for the radiochemical determination of internal contamination of the body under emergency conditions, here defined as a situation in which results on internal radioactive contamination are needed quickly. The purpose of speed is to determine the necessity for medical treatment to increase the natural elimination rate. Analytical methods discussed include whole-body counting, organ counting, wound monitoring, and excreta analysis. 12 references

Genetic Counselors' Experiences Regarding Communication of Reproductive Risks with Autosomal Recessive Conditions found on Cancer Panels.

Science.gov (United States)

Mets, Sarah; Tryon, Rebecca; Veach, Patricia McCarthy; Zierhut, Heather A

2016-04-01

The development of hereditary cancer genetic testing panels has altered genetic counseling practice. Mutations within certain genes on cancer panels pose not only a cancer risk, but also a reproductive risk for autosomal recessive conditions such as Fanconi anemia, constitutional mismatch repair deficiency syndrome, and ataxia telangiectasia. This study aimed to determine if genetic counselors discuss reproductive risks for autosomal recessive conditions associated with genes included on cancer panels, and if so, under what circumstances these risks are discussed. An on-line survey was emailed through the NSGC list-serv. The survey assessed 189 cancer genetic counselors' experiences discussing reproductive risks with patients at risk to carry a mutation or variant of uncertain significance (VUS) in a gene associated with both an autosomal dominant cancer risk and an autosomal recessive syndrome. Over half (n = 82, 55 %) reported having discussed reproductive risks; the remainder (n = 66, 45 %) had not. Genetic counselors who reported discussing reproductive risks primarily did so when patients had a positive result and were of reproductive age. Reasons for not discussing these risks included when a patient had completed childbearing or when a VUS was identified. Most counselors discussed reproductive risk after obtaining results and not during the informed consent process. There is inconsistency as to if and when the discussion of reproductive risks is taking place. The wide variation in responses suggests a need to develop professional guidelines for when and how discussions of reproductive risk for autosomal recessive conditions identified through cancer panels should occur with patients.

Enrofloxacin degradation in broiler chicken manure under various laboratory conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Slana, Marko; Sollner-Dolenc, Marija

2016-03-01

The rate of degradation of enrofloxacin in broiler chicken manure has been characterized in the laboratory according to the CVMP guideline on determining the fate of veterinary medicinal products in manure. Degradation was followed in a flow-through system under aerobic and anaerobic conditions, in the dark and in the presence of light. The rate of degradation of enrofloxacin and the formation of its degradation products are dependent on laboratory conditions. A rapid degradation of enrofloxacin in the dark was noticed, where a shorter degradation half-life under aerobic (DT50 = 59.1 days), comparing to anaerobic conditions (DT50 = 88.9 days), was determined. The presence of light slowed down the enrofloxacin degradation half-life, which was significantly shorter under aerobic (DT50 = 115.0 days), comparing to anaerobic conditions (DT50 = 190.8 days). Desethylene-enrofoxacin was the only degradation product formed, its concentrations ranged from 2.5 to 14.9 %. The concentration of the degradation product was approximately 2.5-fold higher under aerobic conditions. Enrofloxacin degradation in sterile manure incubated under sterile conditions was marginal comparing to non-sterile conditions; after 120 days of incubation, approximately 80 % of enrofloxacin was still present in manure and only 1 % of desethylene-enrofloxacin was formed. The present work demonstrates that enrofloxacin degradation in chicken manure is relatively fast when incubated in the dark under aerobic conditions which is the recommended incubation system for chicken manure according to CVMP guideline.

Anaerobic biodegradation of cyanide under methanogenic conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Fallon, R D; Cooper, D A; Speece, R; Henson, M

1991-01-01

Upflow, anaerobic, fixed-bed, activated charcoal biotreatment columns capable of operating at free cyanide concentrations of greater than 100 mg liter-1 with a hydraulic retention time of less than 48 h were developed. Methanogenesis was maintained under a variety of feed medium conditions which included ethanol, phenol, or methanol as the primary reduced carbon source. Under optimal conditions, greater than 70% of the inflow free cyanide was removed in the first 30% of the column height. Strongly complexed cyanides were resistant to removal. Ammonia was the nitrogen end product of cyanide transformation. In cell material removed from the charcoal columns, [14C]bicarbonate was the major carbon end product of [14C]cyanide transformation. PMID:1872600

Performance of diverse wheat genetic stocks under moisture stress condition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seher, M.; Shabbir, G.; Rasheed, A.

2015-01-01

This study was conducted to evaluate divergent wheat germplasm for their performance under drought and control conditions. The germplasm consists of wheat land races of Pakistan, advanced D-genome synthetic derivatives and high yielding varieties of Pakistan. This wide array of germplasm was selected to identify sources, which can be opted later by the wheat breeders while breeding for drought tolerance. The evaluation parameters involved some important physiochemical testing and morphological characteristics in the field under drought and control conditions. Based on these parameters, 13 wheat genotypes were selected on the basis of their best performance regarding morphological and physiological parameters. These genotypes exhibited higher yield under drought stress conditions and increased percentage of proline, sugar, SOD and protein content under laboratory conditions as compared to the susceptible genotypes. Correlation studies revealed that grains per spike (GPS) and thousand grain weight (TGW) had direct relationship with spike length (SL), proline and sugar content under both control and drought conditions. Thus, these parameters can be used as selection criteria for the identification of tolerant genotypes. (author)

Neospora caninum infection in beef cattle reared under grazing conditions in north-central Mexico

OpenAIRE

Karina Mondragón-Zavala; Carlos Cruz-Vázquez; Leticia Medina-Esparza; Miguel Ramos-Parra; Zeferino García-Vázquez

2011-01-01

Objetive. To determine the seroprevalence of N. caninum antibodies and prevalence of parasite DNA in blood, and estimate the association between seroprevalence and the potential risk of some factors in beef cattle under grazing conditions in north-central Mexico. Materials and methods. Blood samples from 139 cows and only 10 bulls belonging to 13 farms were collected and evaluated by ELISA test to detect antibodies against N. caninum. Furthermore, to determine the presence of parasite DNA, ne...

Muon catalyzed fusion under compressive conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cripps, G.; Goel, B.; Harms, A.A.

1991-01-01

The viability of a symbiotic combination of Muon Catalyzed Fusion (μCF) and high density generation processes has been investigated. The muon catalyzed fusion reaction rates are formulated in the temperature and density range found under moderate compressive conditions. Simplified energy gain and power balance calculations indicate that significant energy gain occurs only if standard type deuterium-tritium (dt) fusion is ignited. A computer simulation of the hydrodynamics and fusion kinetics of a spherical deuterium-tritium pellet implosion including muons is performed. Using the muon catalyzed fusion reaction rates formulated and under ideal conditions, the pellet ignites (and thus has a significant energy gain) only if the initial muon concentration is approximately 10 17 cm -3 . The muons need to be delivered to the pellet within a very short-time (≅ 1 ns). The muon pulse required in order to make the high density and temperature muon catalyzed fusion scheme viable is beyond the present technology for muon production. (orig.) [de

Performance Enhancements Under Dual-task Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Kramer, A. F.; Wickens, C. D.; Donchin, E.

1984-01-01

Research on dual-task performance has been concerned with delineating the antecedent conditions which lead to dual-task decrements. Capacity models of attention, which propose that a hypothetical resource structure underlies performance, have been employed as predictive devices. These models predict that tasks which require different processing resources can be more successfully time shared than tasks which require common resources. The conditions under which such dual-task integrality can be fostered were assessed in a study in which three factors likely to influence the integrality between tasks were manipulated: inter-task redundancy, the physical proximity of tasks and the task relevant objects. Twelve subjects participated in three experimental sessions in which they performed both single and dual-tasks. The primary task was a pursuit step tracking task. The secondary tasks required the discrimination between different intensities or different spatial positions of a stimulus. The results are discussed in terms of a model of dual-task integrality.

SULFENTRAZONE PHYTOREMEDIATION UNDER FIELD CONDITIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ALESSANDRA FERREIRA BELO

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Phytoremediation is a technique that has been used with increasing frequency to decontaminate soils treated with herbicides that have long - term residual effects, such as sulfentrazone. The goal was to assess phytoremediation of the herbicide sulfentrazone under field conditions by the species Canavalia ensiformis and Crotalaria juncea . The treatments consisted of combinations of the plant species C. ensiformis and C. juncea plus a control treatment (with manual weeding and four doses of the herbicide sulfentrazone. The experimental design used herein was a split - plot randomized block design with four replicates per subplot. The treatments were kept in the field for 75 days. After this period, the experimental area was again furrowed and fertilized, considering the requirements for Pennisetum glaucum , a plant used as an indicator of the presence of sulfentrazone. Thirty - four days after sowing pearl millet, the fresh and dry shoot masses of the plants were assessed. At the end of the cycle, the plant height, stem diameter, internode length, number of leaves, number of panicles, and fresh and dry panicle masses were determined. Previous cultivation of phytoremediation species C. ensiformis and C. juncea promotes sulfentrazone remediation. C. ensiformis is the most efficient species for the decontamination of the herbicide sulfentrazone under field conditions.

29 CFR 1620.18 - Jobs performed under similar working conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 29 Labor 4 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Jobs performed under similar working conditions. 1620.18... THE EQUAL PAY ACT § 1620.18 Jobs performed under similar working conditions. (a) In general. In order for the equal pay standard to apply, the jobs are required to be performed under similar working...

Evaluation of deep drawing force under different friction conditions

OpenAIRE

Lăzărescu Lucian; Banabic Dorel

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate the variation of the required punch load during the deep drawing process under different friction conditions. In this regards, several deep-drawing tests of cylindrical cups were conducted under four friction conditions at the tool–blank interface. The first case was the dry deep-drawing, considered as a reference friction condition, while in the other three cases hydraulic oil, lithium-based grease and animal fat were used as lubricants. For each f...

Plasma-material interaction under simulated disruption conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arkhipov, N.I.; Bakhtin, V.P.; Safronov, V.M.; Toporkov, D.A.; Vasenin, S.G.; Wurz, H.; Zhitlukhin, A.M.

1995-01-01

Sudden evaporation of divertor plate surface under high heat load during tokamak plasma disruption instantaneously produces a vapor shield. The cloud of vaporized material prevents the divertor plates from the bulk of incoming energy flux and thus reduces the further material erosion. Dynamics and effectiveness of the vapor shield are studied experimentally at the 2MK-200 facility under simulated disruption conditions. (orig.)

Fatigue crack propagation behavior under creep conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohji, Kiyotsugu; Kubo, Shiro

1991-01-01

The crack propagation behavior of the SUS 304 stainless steel under creep-fatigue conditions was reviewed. Cracks propagated either in purely time-dependent mode or in purely cycle-dependent mode, depending on loading conditions. The time-dependent crack propagation rate was correlated with modified J-integral J * and the cycle-dependent crack propagation rate was correlated with J-integral range ΔJ f . Threshold was observed in the cycle-dependent crack propagation, and below this threshold the time-dependent crack propagation appeared. The crack propagation rates were uniquely characterized by taking the effective values of J * and ΔJ f , when crack closure was observed. Change in crack propagation mode occurred reversibly and was predicted by the competitive damage model. The threshold disappeared and the cycle-dependent crack propagation continued in a subthreshold region under variable amplitude conditions, where the threshold was interposed between the maximum and minimum ΔJ f . (orig.)

Prospect theory on the brain? Toward a cognitive neuroscience of decision under risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Trepel, Christopher; Fox, Craig R; Poldrack, Russell A

2005-04-01

Most decisions must be made without advance knowledge of their consequences. Economists and psychologists have devoted much attention to modeling decisions made under conditions of risk in which options can be characterized by a known probability distribution over possible outcomes. The descriptive shortcomings of classical economic models motivated the development of prospect theory (D. Kahneman, A. Tversky, Prospect theory: An analysis of decision under risk. Econometrica, 4 (1979) 263-291; A. Tversky, D. Kahneman, Advances in prospect theory: Cumulative representation of uncertainty. Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 5 (4) (1992) 297-323) the most successful behavioral model of decision under risk. In the prospect theory, subjective value is modeled by a value function that is concave for gains, convex for losses, and steeper for losses than for gains; the impact of probabilities are characterized by a weighting function that overweights low probabilities and underweights moderate to high probabilities. We outline the possible neural bases of the components of prospect theory, surveying evidence from human imaging, lesion, and neuropharmacology studies as well as animal neurophysiology studies. These results provide preliminary suggestions concerning the neural bases of prospect theory that include a broad set of brain regions and neuromodulatory systems. These data suggest that focused studies of decision making in the context of quantitative models may provide substantial leverage towards a fuller understanding of the cognitive neuroscience of decision making.

Criticality Analysis of SFP Region I under Dry Air Condition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Ki Yong; Kim, Min Chul

2016-01-01

This paper is to provide a result of the criticality evaluation under the condition that new fuel assemblies for initial fuel loading are storing in Region 1 of SFP in the dry air. The objective of this analysis is to ensure the effective neutron multiplication factor(k_e_f_f) of SFP is less than 0.95 under that condition. This analysis ensured the effective neutron multiplication factor(k_e_f_f) of Region 1 of SFP is less than 0.95 under the condition in the air. The keff in Region I of SFP under the condition of the dry air is 0.5865. The increased k_c_a_l_c of the Region 1 after the mislocated fuel assembly accident is 0.0444 at the pool flooded with un-borated water

Emotional memory consolidation under lower versus higher stress conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Inna eKogan

2010-12-01

Full Text Available An exposure to stress can enhance memory for emotionally arousing experiences. The phenomenon is suggested to be amygdala-dependent and in accordance with that view the amygdala was found to modulate mnemonic processes in other brain regions. Previously, we illustrated increased amygdala activation and reduced activation of CA1 following spatial learning under high versus low emotionality conditions. When spatial learning was followed by reversal training interference, impaired retention was detected only under high emotionality conditions. Here we further evaluate the potential implications of the difference in the level of amygdala activation on the quality of the memory formed under these stress conditions. We attempted to affect spatial memory consolidation under low or high stress conditions by either introducing a foot shock interference following massed training in the water maze; by manipulating the threshold for acquisition employing either brief (3 trials or full (12 trials training sessions; or by employing a spaced training (over three days rather than massed training protocol. The current findings reveal that under heightened emotionality, the process of consolidation seems to become less effective and more vulnerable to interference; however, when memory consolidation is not interrupted, retention is improved. These differential effects might underlie the complex interactions of stress, and, particularly, of traumatic stress with memory formation processes.

Site-specific variability in BTEX biodegradation under denitrifying conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kao, C.M.; Borden, R.C.

1997-01-01

Laboratory microcosm experiments were conducted to evaluate the feasibility of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, m-xylene, and o-xylene (BTEX) biodegradation under denitrifying conditions. Nine different sources of inocula, including contaminated and uncontaminated soil cores from four different sites and activated sludge, were used to establish microcosms. BTEX was not degraded under denitrifying conditions in microcosms inoculated with aquifer material from Rocky Point and Traverse City. However, rapid depletion of glucose under denitrifying conditions was observed in microcosms containing Rocky Point aquifer material. TEX degradation was observed in microcosms containing Rocky Point aquifer material. TEX degradation was observed in microcosms containing aquifer material from Fort Bragg and Sleeping Bear Dunes and sewage sludge. Benzene was recalcitrant in all microcosms tested. The degradation of o-xylene ceased after toluene, ethylbenzene, and m-xylene were depleted in the Fort Bragg and sludge microcosms, but o-xylene continued to degrade in microcosms with contaminated Sleeping Bear Dunes soil. The most probable number (MPN) of denitrifiers in these nine different inocula were measured using a microtiter technique. There was no correlation between the MPN of denitrifiers and the TEX degradation rate under denitrifying conditions. Experimental results indicate that the degradation sequence and TEX degradation rate under denitrifying conditions may differ among sites. Results also indicate that denitrification alone may not be a suitable bioremediation technology for gasoline-contaminated aquifers because of the inability of denitrifiers to degrade benzene

Smectite Formation from Basaltic Glass Under Acidic Conditions on Mars

Science.gov (United States)

Peretyazhko, T. S.; Sutter, B.; Morris, R. V.; Agresti, D. G.; Le, L.; Ming, D. W.

2015-01-01

Massive deposits of phyllosilicates of the smectite group, including Mg/Fe-smectite, have been identified in Mars's ancient Noachian terrain. The observed smectite is hypothesized to form through aqueous alteration of basaltic crust under neutral to alkaline pH conditions. These pH conditions and the presence of a CO2-rich atmosphere suggested for ancient Mars were favorable for the formation of large carbonate deposits. However, the detection of large-scale carbonate deposits is limited on Mars. We hypothesized that smectite deposits may have formed under acidic conditions that prevented carbonate precipitation. In this work we investigated formation of saponite at a pH of approximately 4 from Mars-analogue synthetic Adirondack basaltic glass of composition similar to Adirondack class rocks located at Gusev crater. Hydrothermal (200º Centigrade) 14 day experiments were performed with and without 10 millimoles Fe(II) or Mg under anoxic condition [hereafter denoted as anoxic_Fe, anoxic_Mg and anoxic (no addition of Fe(II) or Mg)] and under oxic condition [hereafter denoted as oxic (no addition of Fe(II) or Mg)]. Characterization and formation conditions of the synthesized saponite provided insight into the possible geochemical conditions required for saponite formation on Mars.

Thermalydraulic processes in the reactor coolant system of a BWR under severe accident conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hodge, S.A.

1990-01-01

Boiling water reactors (BWRs) incorporate many unique structural features that make their expected response under severe accident conditions very different from that predicted in the case of pressurized water reactor accident sequences. Automatic main steam isolation valve (MIV) closure as the vessel water level approaches the top of the core would cause reactor vessel isolation while automatic recirculation pump trip would limit the in-vessel flows to those characteristic of natural circulation (as disturbed by vessel relief valve actuation). This paper provides a discussion of the BWR control blade, channel box, core plate, control rod guide tube, and reactor vessel safety relief valve (SRV) configuration and the effects of these structural components upon thermal hydraulic processes within the reactor vessel under severe accident conditions. The dominant BWR severe accident sequences as determined by probabilistic risk assessment are described and the expected timing of events for the unmitigated short-term station blackout severe accident sequence at the Peach Bottom atomic power station is presented

Risk factors of Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI in under-fives in a rural hospital of Central India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amar M. Taksande

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries in children especially in under-fives. Every year in the world, about 13 million under-5 children dies, 95% from developing countries; one third of total deaths are due to ARI. The aim of this study was to identify the significant risk factors for ARI in children less than five years of age living in rural areas of Central India.Methods: A hospital based case control study was undertaken to determine risk factors associated with respiratory tract infections in children. Children less than 5 years admitted in a pediatric ward with diagnosis of ARI were enrolled in the study as cases (n = 300 while the same number of controls (n = 300 were selected from neighborhood and were matched for age, sex and religion. Details of risk factors in cases and controls were recorded in pre-designed proforma. Results: A significant association was found between ARI and lack of breastfeeding, nutritional status, immunization status, delayed weaning, prelactal feeding, living in overcrowded conditions, mothers’ literacy status, low birth weight and prematurity. Among the environmental variables, inadequate ventilation, improper housing condition, exposure to indoor air pollution in form of combustion from fuel used for cooking were found as significant risk factors for ARI in under-fives.Conclusions: ARIs are affected by socio-demographic and socio-cultural risk factors, which can be modified with simple interventions. The various risk factors identified in this study were lack of breastfeeding, undernutrition, delayed weaning, overcrowding and prelactal feeding.

Silk-polypyrrole biocompatible actuator performance under biologically relevant conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Hagler, Jo'elen; Peterson, Ben; Murphy, Amanda; Leger, Janelle

Biocompatible actuators that are capable of controlled movement and can function under biologically relevant conditions are of significant interest in biomedical fields. Previously, we have demonstrated that a composite material of silk biopolymer and the conducting polymer polypyrrole (PPy) can be formed into a bilayer device that can bend under applied voltage. Further, these silk-PPy composites can generate forces comparable to human muscle (>0.1 MPa) making them ideal candidates for interfacing with biological tissues. Here silk-PPy composite films are tested for performance under biologically relevant conditions including exposure to a complex protein serum and biologically relevant temperatures. Free-end bending actuation performance, current response, force generation and, mass degradation were investigated . Preliminary results show that when exposed to proteins and biologically relevant temperatures, these silk-PPy composites show minimal degradation and are able to generate forces and conduct currents comparable to devices tested under standard conditions. NSF.

RADIONUCLIDE TRANSPORT MODELS UNDER AMBIENT CONDITIONS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

S. Magnuson

2004-11-01

The purpose of this model report is to document the unsaturated zone (UZ) radionuclide transport model, which evaluates, by means of three-dimensional numerical models, the transport of radioactive solutes and colloids in the UZ, under ambient conditions, from the repository horizon to the water table at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.

Does red noise increase or decrease extinction risk? Single extreme events versus series of unfavorable conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwager, Monika; Johst, Karin; Jeltsch, Florian

2006-06-01

Recent theoretical studies have shown contrasting effects of temporal correlation of environmental fluctuations (red noise) on the risk of population extinction. It is still debated whether and under which conditions red noise increases or decreases extinction risk compared with uncorrelated (white) noise. Here, we explain the opposing effects by introducing two features of red noise time series. On the one hand, positive autocorrelation increases the probability of series of poor environmental conditions, implying increasing extinction risk. On the other hand, for a given time period, the probability of at least one extremely bad year ("catastrophe") is reduced compared with white noise, implying decreasing extinction risk. Which of these two features determines extinction risk depends on the strength of environmental fluctuations and the sensitivity of population dynamics to these fluctuations. If extreme (catastrophic) events can occur (strong noise) or sensitivity is high (overcompensatory density dependence), then temporal correlation decreases extinction risk; otherwise, it increases it. Thus, our results provide a simple explanation for the contrasting previous findings and are a crucial step toward a general understanding of the effect of noise color on extinction risk.

Atomic collisions under extreme conditions in space

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Itikawa, Yukikazu

1987-01-01

In space, atoms and molecules are often placed under the extreme conditions which are very difficult to be realized on Earth. For instance, extremely hot and dense plasmas are found in and around various stellar objects (e.g., neutron stars) on one hand and extremely cold and diffuse gases prevail in interstellar space on the other. There is so strong a magnetic field that electron clouds in atoms and molecules are distorted. The study of atomic collisions under the extreme conditions is not only helpful in understanding the astrophysical environment but also reveals new aspects of the physics of atoms and molecules. This paper is an invitation to the study. (References are not exhaustive but only provide a clue with which more details can be found.) (author)

A multiple stage approach to mitigate the risks of telecommunication equipment under free air cooling conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dai Jun; Das, Diganta; Pecht, Michael

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Analyze the challenges posed by free air cooling (FAC). ► Present a multi-stage process to mitigate the risks of FAC. ► Propose a prognostics-based method to mitigate risks in data centers in operation. ► Present a case study to show the prognostics-based method implementation. - Abstract: The telecommunication industry is concerned about the energy costs of its operating infrastructure and the associated greenhouse gas emissions. At present, more than half of the total energy consumption of data centers is devoted to the power and cooling infrastructure that supports electronic equipment. One method of reducing energy consumption is an approach called “free air cooling,” where ambient air is used to cool the equipment directly, thereby reducing the energy consumed in cooling and conditioning the air. For example, Intel demonstrated free air cooling in a 10-megawatt (MW) data center, showing a reduction in energy use and savings of US$2.87 million annually. However, the impacts of this approach on the performance and reliability of telecommunication equipment need to be identified. The implementation of free air cooling changes the operating environment, including temperature and humidity, which may have a significant impact on the performance and reliability of telecom equipment. This paper discusses the challenges posed by free air cooling and presents a multi-stage process for evaluating and mitigating the potential risks arising from this new operating environment.

TBA biodegradation in surface-water sediments under aerobic and anaerobic conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Bradley, Paul M; Landmeyer, James E; Chapelle, Francis H

2002-10-01

The potential for [U-14C] TBA biodegradation was examined in laboratory microcosms under a range of terminal electron accepting conditions. TBA mineralization to CO2 was substantial in surface-water sediments under oxic, denitrifying, or Mn(IV)-reducing conditions and statistically significant but low under SO4-reducing conditions. Thus, anaerobic TBA biodegradation may be a significant natural attenuation mechanism for TBA in the environment, and stimulation of in situ TBA bioremediation by addition of suitable terminal electron acceptors may be feasible. No degradation of [U-14C] TBA was observed under methanogenic or Fe(III)-reducing conditions.

Investors’ Risk Preference Characteristics and Conditional Skewness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fenghua Wen

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Perspective on behavioral finance, we take a new look at the characteristics of investors’ risk preference, building the D-GARCH-M model, DR-GARCH-M model, and GARCHC-M model to investigate their changes with states of gain and loss and values of return together with other time-varying characteristics of investors’ risk preference. Based on a full description of risk preference characteristic, we develop a GARCHCS-M model to study its effect on the return skewness. The top ten market value stock composite indexes from Global Stock Exchange in 2012 are adopted to make the empirical analysis. The results show that investors are risk aversion when they gain and risk seeking when they lose, which effectively explains the inconsistent risk-return relationship. Moreover, the degree of risk aversion rises with the increasing gain and that of risk seeking improves with the increasing losses. Meanwhile, we find that investors’ inherent risk preference in most countries displays risk seeking, and their current risk preference is influenced by last period’s risk preference and disturbances. At last, investors’ risk preferences affect the conditional skewness; specifically, their risk aversion makes return skewness reduce, while risk seeking makes the skewness increase.

Hydro-dynamic Solute Transport under Two-Phase Flow Conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Karadimitriou, Nikolaos K; Joekar-Niasar, Vahid; Brizuela, Omar Godinez

2017-07-26

There are abundant examples of natural, engineering and industrial applications, in which "solute transport" and "mixing" in porous media occur under multiphase flow conditions. Current state-of-the-art understanding and modelling of such processes are established based on flawed and non-representative models. Moreover, there is no direct experimental result to show the true hydrodynamics of transport and mixing under multiphase flow conditions while the saturation topology is being kept constant for a number of flow rates. With the use of a custom-made microscope, and under well-controlled flow boundary conditions, we visualized directly the transport of a tracer in a Reservoir-on-Chip (RoC) micromodel filled with two immiscible fluids. This study provides novel insights into the saturation-dependency of transport and mixing in porous media. To our knowledge, this is the first reported pore-scale experiment in which the saturation topology, relative permeability, and tortuosity were kept constant and transport was studied under different dynamic conditions in a wide range of saturation. The critical role of two-phase hydrodynamic properties on non-Fickian transport and saturation-dependency of dispersion are discussed, which highlight the major flaws in parametrization of existing models.

Biotransformation of phytosterols under aerobic conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Dykstra, Christy M; Giles, Hamilton D; Banerjee, Sujit; Pavlostathis, Spyros G

2014-07-01

Phytosterols are plant-derived sterols present in pulp and paper wastewater and have been implicated in the endocrine disruption of aquatic species. Bioassays were performed to assess the effect of an additional carbon source and/or solubilizing agent on the aerobic biotransformation of a mixture of three common phytosterols (β-sitosterol, stigmasterol and campesterol). The aerobic biotransformation of the phytosterol mixture by a mixed culture developed from a pulp and paper wastewater treatment system was examined under three separate conditions: with phytosterols as the sole added carbon source, with phytosterols and dextrin as an additional carbon source, and with phytosterols added with ethanol as an additional carbon source and solubilizing agent. Significant phytosterol removal was not observed in assays set up with phytosterol powder, either with or without an additional carbon source. In contrast, all three phytosterols were aerobically degraded when added as a dissolved solution in ethanol. Thus, under the experimental conditions of this study, the bioavailability of phytosterols was limited without the presence of a solubilizing agent. The total phytosterol removal rate was linear for the first six days before re-spiking, with a rate of 0.47 mg/L-d (R(2) = 0.998). After the second spiking, the total phytosterol removal rate was linear for seven days, with a rate of 0.32 mg/L-d (R(2) = 0.968). Following the 7th day, the phytosterol removal rate markedly accelerated, suggesting two different mechanisms are involved in phytosterol biotransformation, more likely related to the production of enzyme(s) involved in phytosterol degradation, induced under different cell growth conditions. β-sitosterol was preferentially degraded, as compared to stigmasterol and campesterol, although all three phytosterols fell below detection limits by the 24th day of incubation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Radionuclide Transport Models Under Ambient Conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moridis, G.; Hu, Q.

2001-01-01

The purpose of Revision 00 of this Analysis/Model Report (AMR) is to evaluate (by means of 2-D semianalytical and 3-D numerical models) the transport of radioactive solutes and colloids in the unsaturated zone (UZ) under ambient conditions from the potential repository horizon to the water table at Yucca Mountain (YM), Nevada

Responsibility, guilt, and decision under risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Mancini, Francesco; Gangemi, Amelia

2003-12-01

We hypothesize that individuals' choices (risk-seeking/risk-aversion) depend on moral values and, in particular, on how subjects evaluate themselves as guilty or as victims of a wrong rather than on the descriptions of the outcomes as given in the options and evaluated accordingly as gains or losses (framing effect). People who evaluate themselves as victims are expected to show a risk-seeking preference (context of innocence). People who evaluate themselves as guilty are expected to show a risk-averse preference (context of guilt). Responses of 232 participants to a decision problem were compared in four different conditions involving two-story formats (innocence/guilt) and two-question-options formats (gain/loss). Regardless of the format of the question options, the story format appears to be an important determinant of individuals' preferences.

Strategic and non-strategic problem gamblers differ on decision-making under risk and ambiguity.

Science.gov (United States)

Lorains, Felicity K; Dowling, Nicki A; Enticott, Peter G; Bradshaw, John L; Trueblood, Jennifer S; Stout, Julie C

2014-07-01

To analyse problem gamblers' decision-making under conditions of risk and ambiguity, investigate underlying psychological factors associated with their choice behaviour and examine whether decision-making differed in strategic (e.g., sports betting) and non-strategic (e.g., electronic gaming machine) problem gamblers. Cross-sectional study. Out-patient treatment centres and university testing facilities in Victoria, Australia. Thirty-nine problem gamblers and 41 age, gender and estimated IQ-matched controls. Decision-making tasks included the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and a loss aversion task. The Prospect Valence Learning (PVL) model was used to provide an explanation of cognitive, motivational and response style factors involved in IGT performance. Overall, problem gamblers performed more poorly than controls on both the IGT (P = 0.04) and the loss aversion task (P = 0.01), and their IGT decisions were associated with heightened attention to gains (P = 0.003) and less consistency (P = 0.002). Strategic problem gamblers did not differ from matched controls on either decision-making task, but non-strategic problem gamblers performed worse on both the IGT (P = 0.006) and the loss aversion task (P = 0.02). Furthermore, we found differences in the PVL model parameters underlying strategic and non-strategic problem gamblers' choices on the IGT. Problem gamblers demonstrated poor decision-making under conditions of risk and ambiguity. Strategic (e.g. sports betting, poker) and non-strategic (e.g. electronic gaming machines) problem gamblers differed in decision-making and the underlying psychological processes associated with their decisions. © 2014 Society for the Study of Addiction.

Decision-making under risk and ambiguity in low-birth-weight pigs.

Science.gov (United States)

Murphy, Eimear; Kraak, Lynn; van den Broek, Jan; Nordquist, Rebecca E; van der Staay, Franz Josef

2015-03-01

Low birth weight (LBW) in humans is a risk factor for later cognitive, behavioural and emotional problems. In pigs, LBW is associated with higher mortality, but little is known about consequences for surviving piglets. Alteration in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis function in LBW pigs suggests altered emotionality, but no behavioural indicators have been studied. Decision-making under uncertain conditions, e.g., risk or ambiguity, is susceptible to emotional influences and may provide a means of assessing long-term effects of LBW in piglets. We tested LBW (N = 8) and normal-birth-weight (NBW; N = 8) male pigs in two decision-making tasks. For decision-making under risk, we developed a simple two-choice probabilistic task, the Pig Gambling Task (PGT), where an 'advantageous' option offered small but frequent rewards and a 'disadvantageous' option offered large but infrequent rewards. The advantageous option offered greater overall gain. For decision-making under ambiguity, we used a Judgement Bias Task (JBT) where pigs were trained to make an active response to 'positive' and 'negative' tone cues (signalling large and small rewards, respectively). Responses to ambiguous tone cues were rated as more or less optimistic. LBW pigs chose the advantageous option more often in later blocks of the PGT, and were scored as less optimistic in the JBT, than NBW pigs. Our findings demonstrate that LBW pigs have developed different behavioural strategies with respect to decision-making. We propose that this is guided by changes in emotionality in LBW piglets, and we provide behavioural evidence of increased negative affect in LBW piglets.

Capturing a DNA duplex under near-physiological conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Huijuan; Xu, Wei; Liu, Xiaogang; Stellacci, Francesco; Thong, John T. L.

2010-10-01

We report in situ trapping of a thiolated DNA duplex with eight base pairs into a polymer-protected gold nanogap device under near-physiological conditions. The double-stranded DNA was captured by electrophoresis and covalently attached to the nanogap electrodes through sulfur-gold bonding interaction. The immobilization of the DNA duplex was confirmed by direct electrical measurements under near-physiological conditions. The conductance of the DNA duplex was estimated to be 0.09 μS. We also demonstrate the control of DNA dehybridization by heating the device to temperatures above the melting point of the DNA.

Quality of whey powders stored under adverse conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Whey protein concentrate powder (WPC) is exported by the U.S. and is included in emergency aid foods, but the bags sent overseas are usually stored without refrigeration and under elevated temperature and relative humidity (RH). The shelf life of WPC under adverse conditions must be known to preven...

[Underlying conditions associated with the occurrence of retinal vein occlusion].

Science.gov (United States)

Tilleul, J; Glacet-Bernard, A; Coscas, G; Soubrane, G; Souied, E H

2011-05-01

Conventional risk factors for retinal vein occlusion (RVO) are well established through large epidemiological studies, but triggering factors remain poorly known. A prospective observational study through a questionnaire was completed between January and October 2009 by patients with RVO and controls. Sixty-one patients, including 42 central retinal vein occlusions (CRVO) and 19 branch vein occlusions (BRVO) as well as 118 controls were included. Of the CRVO patients, 77% discovered visual loss upon awakening in contrast to only 33% of BRVO patients. The comparison between RVO and controls showed a higher proportion in the RVO group for (in order of the highest risk): migraine headache (CRVO, 21 %; BRVO, 47 %; controls, 13 %; p=0.008), hypertension (CRVO, 52%; BRVO, 63%; controls, 37%; p=0.012), glaucoma (CRVO, 33%; BRVO, 22%; controls, 16%; p=0.034), antiplatelet or anticoagulant medication (CRVO, 42%; BRVO, 33%; controls, 26%; p=0.074), hyperlipidemia, ocular trauma, sudden deafness, or vertigo. The prevalence was similar in both groups for body mass index, history of phlebitis or peptic ulcer, smoking habits, stress, fasting, dehydration, vasodilator intake, and altitude stay. In addition to the already known risk factors, this study underlines certain underlying conditions or circumstances related to the onset of RVO, such as migraine. In CRVO, three-quarters of the patients on average discovered visual loss upon awakening, which may indicate that nocturnal events may play a significant role in the pathogenesis of the occlusion. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

EM algorithm for one-shot device testing with competing risks under exponential distribution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Balakrishnan, N.; So, H.Y.; Ling, M.H.

2015-01-01

This paper provides an extension of the work of Balakrishnan and Ling [1] by introducing a competing risks model into a one-shot device testing analysis under an accelerated life test setting. An Expectation Maximization (EM) algorithm is then developed for the estimation of the model parameters. An extensive Monte Carlo simulation study is carried out to assess the performance of the EM algorithm and then compare the obtained results with the initial estimates obtained by the Inequality Constrained Least Squares (ICLS) method of estimation. Finally, we apply the EM algorithm to a clinical data, ED01, to illustrate the method of inference developed here. - Highlights: • ALT data analysis for one-shot devices with competing risks is considered. • EM algorithm is developed for the determination of the MLEs. • The estimations of lifetime under normal operating conditions are presented. • The EM algorithm improves the convergence rate

Experimental program on fuel rod behaviour under off-normal conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Languille, A.; Cecchi, P.

1985-01-01

During LMFBR plant operation, fuel developments are primarily concerned with the fuel pin irradiation behaviour under steady-state conditions up to high burn-up levels. But additional studies under off-normal conditions are necessary in order to assess fuel pin performance and to define operational limits. (author)

Limestone attrition under simulated oxyfiring Fluidized-Bed combustion conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Scala, F. [Istituto di Ricerche sulla Combustione - CNR, Napoli (Italy); Salatino, P. [Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica - Universita degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Napoli (Italy)

2009-03-15

Limestone attrition by surface wear was studied during the flue gas desulfurization under simulated fluidized-bed (FB) oxyfiring conditions and hindered calcination. Bench-scale experimental tests were carried out using well-established techniques previously developed for the characterization of sulfation and attrition of sorbents in air-blown atmospheric FB combustors. The experimental limestone conversion and attrition results were compared with those previously obtained with the same limestone under simulated air-blown combustion conditions. The differences in the conversion and attrition extents and patterns associated with oxyfiring as compared to air-blown atmospheric combustion were highlighted and related to the different particle morphologies and thicknesses of the sulfate layer. It was noted that attrition could play an important role in practical circulating FB combustor operation, by effectively enhancing particle sulfation under both oxyfiring and air-blown combustion conditions. (Abstract Copyright [2009], Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Driving behaviors and accident risk under lifetime license revocation.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Hsin-Li; Woo, T Hugh; Tseng, Chien-Ming; Tseng, I-Yen

2011-07-01

This study explored the driving behaviors and crash risk of 768 drivers who were under administrative lifetime driver's license revocation (ALLR). It was found that most of the ALLR offenders (83.2%) were still driving and only a few (16.8%) of them gave up driving completely. Of the offenders still driving, 67.6% experienced encountering a police roadside check, but were not detained or ticketed by the police. Within this group, 50.6% continued driving while encountering a police check, 18.0% of them made an immediate U-turn and 9.5% of them parked and exited their car. As to crash risk, 15.2% of the ALLR offenders had at least one crash experience after the ALLR had been imposed. The results of the logistic regression models showed that the offenders' crash risk while under the ALLR was significantly correlated with their personal characteristics (personal income), penalty status (incarceration, civil compensation and the time elapsed since license revocation), annual distance driven, and needs for driving (working, commuting and driving kids). Low-income offenders were more inclined to have a crash while driving under the ALLR. Offenders penalized by being incarcerated or by paying a high civil compensation drove more carefully and were less of a crash risk under the ALLR. The results also showed there were no differences in crash risk under the ALLR between hit-and-run offences and drunk driving offences or for offenders with a professional license or an ordinary license. Generally, ALLR offenders drove somewhat more carefully and were less of a crash risk (4.3 crashes per million km driven) than legal licensed drivers (23.1 crashes per million km driven). Moreover, they seemed to drive more carefully than drivers who were under short-term license suspension/revocation which previous studies have found. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neural computations underlying social risk sensitivity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nina eLauharatanahirun

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Under standard models of expected utility, preferences over stochastic events are assumed to be independent of the source of uncertainty. Thus, in decision-making, an agent should exhibit consistent preferences, regardless of whether the uncertainty derives from the unpredictability of a random process or the unpredictability of a social partner. However, when a social partner is the source of uncertainty, social preferences can influence decisions over and above pure risk attitudes. Here, we compared risk-related hemodynamic activity and individual preferences for two sets of options that differ only in the social or non-social nature of the risk. Risk preferences in social and non-social contexts were systematically related to neural activity during decision and outcome phases of each choice. Individuals who were more risk averse in the social context exhibited decreased risk-related activity in the amygdala during non-social decisions, while individuals who were more risk averse in the non-social context exhibited the opposite pattern. Differential risk preferences were similarly associated with hemodynamic activity in ventral striatum at the outcome of these decisions. These findings suggest that social preferences, including aversion to betrayal or exploitation by social partners, may be associated with variability in the response of these subcortical regions to social risk.

Xenon changes under power-burst conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Diamond, D.J.

1983-01-01

Under ordinary operating conditions the xenon concentration in a reactor core can change significantly in times on the order of hours. Core transients of safety significance are much more rapid and hence calculations are done with xenon concentration held constant. However, in certain transients (such as reactivity initiated accidents) there is a very large power surge and the question arises as to whether under these circumstances the xenon concentration could change. This would be particularly important if the xenon were reduced thereby tending to make the accident autocatalytic. The objective of the present study is to quantify this effect to see if it could be important

Optimal annuity portfolio under inflation risk

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Konicz, Agnieszka Karolina; Pisinger, David; Weissensteiner, Alex

2015-01-01

The paper investigates the importance of in ation-linked annuities to individuals facing in ation risk. Given the investment opportunities in nominal, real, and variable annuities, as well as cash and stocks, we investigate the consumption and investment decisions under two different objective fu...... and risk aversion, real annuities are a crucial asset in every portfolio. In addition, without investing in real annuities, the retiree has to rebalance the portfolio more frequently, and still obtains the lower and more volatile real consumption....

Sensitivity analysis of uranium solubility under strongly oxidizing conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, L.; Neretnieks, I.

1999-01-01

To evaluate the effect of geochemical conditions in the repository on the solubility of uranium under strongly oxidizing conditions, a mathematical model has been developed to determine the solubility, by utilizing a set of nonlinear algebraic equations to describe the chemical equilibria in the groundwater environment. The model takes into account the predominant precipitation-dissolution reactions, hydrolysis reactions and complexation reactions that may occur under strongly oxidizing conditions. The model also includes the solubility-limiting solids induced by the presence of carbonate, phosphate, silicate, calcium, and sodium in the groundwater. The thermodynamic equilibrium constants used in the solubility calculations are essentially taken from the NEA Thermochemical Data Base of Uranium, with some modification and some uranium minerals added, such as soddyite, rutherfordite, uranophane, uranyl orthophosphate, and becquerelite. By applying this model, the sensitivities of uranium solubility to variations in the concentrations of various groundwater component species are systematically investigated. The results show that the total analytical concentrations of carbonate, phosphate, silicate, and calcium in deep groundwater play the most important role in determining the solubility of uranium under strongly oxidizing conditions

Operation condition for continuous anti-solvent crystallization of CBZ-SAC cocrystal considering deposition risk of undesired crystals

Science.gov (United States)

Nishimaru, Momoko; Nakasa, Miku; Kudo, Shoji; Takiyama, Hiroshi

2017-07-01

Crystallization operation of cocrystal production has deposition risk of undesired crystals. Simultaneously, continuous manufacturing processes are focused on. In this study, conditions for continuous cocrystallization considering risk reduction of undesired crystals deposition were investigated on the view point of thermodynamics and kinetics. The anti-solvent cocrystallization was carried out in four-component system of carbamazepine, saccharin, methanol and water. From the preliminary batch experiment, the relationships among undesired crystal deposition, solution composition decided by mixing ratio of solutions, and residence time for the crystals were considered, and then the conditions of continuous experiment were decided. Under these conditions, the continuous experiment was carried out. The XRD patterns of obtained crystals in the continuous experiment showed that desired cocrystals were obtained without undesired crystals. This experimental result was evaluated by using multi-component phase diagrams from the view point of the operation point's movement. From the evaluation, it was found that there is a certain operation condition which the operation point is fixed with time in the specific domain without the deposition risk of undesired single component crystals. It means the possibility of continuous production of cocrystals without deposition risk of undesired crystals was confirmed by using multi-component phase diagrams.

Laboratory Equipment for Investigation of Coring Under Mars-like Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Zacny, K.; Cooper, G.

2004-12-01

To develop a suitable drill bit and set of operating conditions for Mars sample coring applications, it is essential to make tests under conditions that match those of the mission. The goal of the laboratory test program was to determine the drilling performance of diamond-impregnated bits under simulated Martian conditions, particularly those of low pressure and low temperature in a carbon dioxide atmosphere. For this purpose, drilling tests were performed in a vacuum chamber kept at a pressure of 5 torr. Prior to drilling, a rock, soil or a clay sample was cooled down to minus 80 degrees Celsius (Zacny et al, 2004). Thus, all Martian conditions, except the low gravity were simulated in the controlled environment. Input drilling parameters of interest included the weight on bit and rotational speed. These two independent variables were controlled from a PC station. The dependent variables included the bit reaction torque, the depth of the bit inside the drilled hole and the temperatures at various positions inside the drilled sample, in the center of the core as it was being cut and at the bit itself. These were acquired every second by a data acquisition system. Additional information such as the rate of penetration and the drill power were calculated after the test was completed. The weight of the rock and the bit prior to and after the test were measured to aid in evaluating the bit performance. In addition, the water saturation of the rock was measured prior to the test. Finally, the bit was viewed under the Scanning Electron Microscope and the Stereo Optical Microscope. The extent of the bit wear and its salient features were captured photographically. The results revealed that drilling or coring under Martian conditions in a water saturated rock is different in many respects from drilling on Earth. This is mainly because the Martian atmospheric pressure is in the vicinity of the pressure at the triple point of water. Thus ice, heated by contact with the

Decolorisation of Congo Red by Aeromonas hydrophila Under Microaerophilic Conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

El Gizawy, S.; Refae, R.A.; Abd El Kareem, H.; Gomaa, O.M.; Hamed, H.

2009-01-01

Among 22 local bacterial isolates, Aeromonas hydrophila isolated from Bolti fish showed a remarkable ability to decolorize congo red under microaerophilic conditions (98.8% in 48 hrs) without prior adaptation. The bacterium had the ability to grow and decolorized high concentrations of congo red which varied from 50 to 1000 mg/l , the decolorisation was irrelevant to bacterial growth. The strain was capable of decolorizing congo red under a wide range of temperatures (20-40 degree C), ph (3-8), NaCl (0-200 mg/l) and also had the ability to decolorized mono, di and poly azo dyes. This bacterium is notable in its ability to decolorized the diazo congo red under extreme conditions of temperature, ph, salinity and high dye concentrations which makes it suitable for decolorisation under extreme industrial conditions

Infinite slope stability under steady unsaturated seepage conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Ning; Godt, Jonathan W.

2008-01-01

We present a generalized framework for the stability of infinite slopes under steady unsaturated seepage conditions. The analytical framework allows the water table to be located at any depth below the ground surface and variation of soil suction and moisture content above the water table under steady infiltration conditions. The framework also explicitly considers the effect of weathering and porosity increase near the ground surface on changes in the friction angle of the soil. The factor of safety is conceptualized as a function of the depth within the vadose zone and can be reduced to the classical analytical solution for subaerial infinite slopes in the saturated zone. Slope stability analyses with hypothetical sandy and silty soils are conducted to illustrate the effectiveness of the framework. These analyses indicate that for hillslopes of both sandy and silty soils, failure can occur above the water table under steady infiltration conditions, which is consistent with some field observations that cannot be predicted by the classical infinite slope theory. A case study of shallow slope failures of sandy colluvium on steep coastal hillslopes near Seattle, Washington, is presented to examine the predictive utility of the proposed framework.

Decomposition of Rice Straw and Corn Straw Under Aerobic and Anaerobic Conditions

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WANG Jing

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Decomposition dynamics of rice straw and corn straw at aerobic and anaerobic condition were investigated under the simulated condition in the lab. Results showed that two stages, i.e. the rapid decomposition stage from 0 to 3 months, and the slow one between 3 and 12 months, of decomposition dynamics of rice straw and corn straw were found under anaerobic and aerobic incubation condition, and more than 55%of rice straw and corn mass was lost at the initial 3 months incubation period. The half times(t1/2of rice straw and corn straw mass lost under aerobic condition were 59.2 d and 52.9 d, which were short than those(72.6 d and 79.9 dunder the anaerobic condition, respectively. Carbon release constants from rice straw and corn straw under aerobic condition were 0.61 and 0.60 per month, which were higher than those (0.55 and 0.57 per monthunder anaerobic condition. The nitrogen release from crop straw followed the same rule as the carbon release from straw. The constants of nitrogen released from rice straw and corn straw under aerobic condition were 0.25 and 2.36 per month, which were higher than those(0.16 and 2.32 per monthunder anaerobic condition. The losses of cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin from rice straw and corn straw under aerobic condition were also higher than those under anaerobic condition. In summary, the aerobic environment increases de composition and release of organic and inorganic substances from crop straw.

Thermoregulation under semi-natural conditions in speckled ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

We recorded body temperature (Tb) in speckled mousebirds (Colius striatus) under semi-natural conditions in outdoor aviaries, and examined interactions between behavioural and metabolic thermoregulation by experimentally manipulating food availability and communal roosting behaviour. When food was available ad ...

Reduction of nitrate and nitrite salts under hydrothermal conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Foy, B.R.; Dell'Orco, P.C.; Wilmanns, E.; McInroy, R.; Ely, J.; Robinson, J.M.; Buelow, S.J.

1994-01-01

The feasibility of reducing nitrate/nitrite salts under hydrothermal conditions for the treatment of aqueous mixed wastes stored in the underground tanks at the Department of Energy site at Hanford, Washington was studied. The reduction of nitrate and nitrite salts by reaction with EDTA using a tank waste simulant was examined at temperatures between 623K and 800K and pressures between 0.6 and 1.2 kbar. Continuous flow reactors were used to determine kinetics and products of reactions. All reactions were studied under pressures high enough to produce single phase conditions. The reactions are rapid, go to completion in less than a minute, and produce simple products, such as carbonate, nitrogen, and nitrous oxide gases. The experimental results demonstrate the ability of chemical reactions under hydrothermal conditions to reduce the nitrate and nitrite salts and destroy organic compounds in the waste mixtures

Geomagnetic storm under laboratory conditions: randomized experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Gurfinkel, Yu I.; Vasin, A. L.; Pishchalnikov, R. Yu; Sarimov, R. M.; Sasonko, M. L.; Matveeva, T. A.

2017-10-01

The influence of the previously recorded geomagnetic storm (GS) on human cardiovascular system and microcirculation has been studied under laboratory conditions. Healthy volunteers in lying position were exposed under two artificially created conditions: quiet (Q) and storm (S). The Q regime playbacks a noise-free magnetic field (MF) which is closed to the natural geomagnetic conditions on Moscow's latitude. The S regime playbacks the initially recorded 6-h geomagnetic storm which is repeated four times sequentially. The cardiovascular response to the GS impact was assessed by measuring capillary blood velocity (CBV) and blood pressure (BP) and by the analysis of the 24-h ECG recording. A storm-to-quiet ratio for the cardio intervals (CI) and the heart rate variability (HRV) was introduced in order to reveal the average over group significant differences of HRV. An individual sensitivity to the GS was estimated using the autocorrelation function analysis of the high-frequency (HF) part of the CI spectrum. The autocorrelation analysis allowed for detection a group of subjects of study which autocorrelation functions (ACF) react differently in the Q and S regimes of exposure.

Geomagnetic storm under laboratory conditions: randomized experiment.

Science.gov (United States)

Gurfinkel, Yu I; Vasin, A L; Pishchalnikov, R Yu; Sarimov, R M; Sasonko, M L; Matveeva, T A

2018-04-01

The influence of the previously recorded geomagnetic storm (GS) on human cardiovascular system and microcirculation has been studied under laboratory conditions. Healthy volunteers in lying position were exposed under two artificially created conditions: quiet (Q) and storm (S). The Q regime playbacks a noise-free magnetic field (MF) which is closed to the natural geomagnetic conditions on Moscow's latitude. The S regime playbacks the initially recorded 6-h geomagnetic storm which is repeated four times sequentially. The cardiovascular response to the GS impact was assessed by measuring capillary blood velocity (CBV) and blood pressure (BP) and by the analysis of the 24-h ECG recording. A storm-to-quiet ratio for the cardio intervals (CI) and the heart rate variability (HRV) was introduced in order to reveal the average over group significant differences of HRV. An individual sensitivity to the GS was estimated using the autocorrelation function analysis of the high-frequency (HF) part of the CI spectrum. The autocorrelation analysis allowed for detection a group of subjects of study which autocorrelation functions (ACF) react differently in the Q and S regimes of exposure.

A risk hedging strategy under the nonparallel-shift yield curve

Science.gov (United States)

Gong, Pu; He, Xubiao

2005-08-01

Under the assumption of the movement of rigid, a nonparallel-shift model in the term structure of interest rates is developed by introducing Fisher & Weil duration which is a well-known concept in the area of interest risk management. This paper has studied the hedge and replication for portfolio immunization to minimize the risk exposure. Throughout the experiment of numerical simulation, the risk exposures of the portfolio under the different risk hedging strategies are quantitatively evaluated by the method of value at risk (VaR) order statistics (OS) estimation. The results show that the risk hedging strategy proposed in this paper is very effective for the interest risk management of the default-free bond.

Detoxification of furfural in Corynebacterium glutamicum under aerobic and anaerobic conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsuge, Yota; Hori, Yoshimi; Kudou, Motonori; Ishii, Jun; Hasunuma, Tomohisa; Kondo, Akihiko

2014-10-01

The toxic fermentation inhibitors in lignocellulosic hydrolysates raise serious problems for the microbial production of fuels and chemicals. Furfural is considered to be one of the most toxic compounds among these inhibitors. Here, we describe the detoxification of furfural in Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC13032 under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Under aerobic culture conditions, furfuryl alcohol and 2-furoic acid were produced as detoxification products of furfural. The ratio of the products varied depending on the initial furfural concentration. Neither furfuryl alcohol nor 2-furoic acid showed any toxic effect on cell growth, and both compounds were determined to be the end products of furfural degradation. Interestingly, unlike under aerobic conditions, most of the furfural was converted to furfuryl alcohol under anaerobic conditions, without affecting the glucose consumption rate. Both the NADH/NAD(+) and NADPH/NADP(+) ratio decreased in the accordance with furfural concentration under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. These results indicate the presence of a single or multiple endogenous enzymes with broad and high affinity for furfural and co-factors in C. glutamicum ATCC13032.

Effective Stress Law in Unconventional Reservoirs under Different Boundary Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Saurabh, S.; Harpalani, S.

2017-12-01

Unconventional reservoirs have attracted a great deal of research interest worldwide during the past two decades. Low permeability and specialized techniques required to exploit these resources present opportunities for improvement in both production rates and ultimate recovery. Understanding subsurface stress modifications and permeability evolution are valuable when evaluating the prospects of unconventional reservoirs. These reservoir properties are functions of effective stress. As a part of this study, effective stress law, specifically the variation of anisotropic Biot's coefficient under various boundary conditions believed to exist in gas reservoirs by different researchers, has been established. Pressure-dependent-permeability (PdK) experiments were carried out on San Juan coal under different boundary conditions, that is, uniaxial strain condition and constant volume condition. Stress and strain in the vertical and horizontal directions were monitored throughout the experiment. Data collected during the experiments was used to determine the Biot's coefficient in vertical and horizontal directions under these two boundary conditions, treating coal as transversely isotropic. The variation of Biot's coefficient was found to be well correlated with the variation in coal permeability. Based on the estimated values of Biot's coefficients, a theory of variation in its value is presented for other boundary conditions. The findings of the study shed light on the inherent behavior of Biot's coefficient under different reservoir boundary conditions. This knowledge can improve the modeling work requiring estimation of effective stress in reservoirs, such as, pressure-/stress- dependent permeability. At the same time, if the effective stresses are known with more certainty by other methods, it enables assessment of the unknown reservoir boundary conditions.

Biogeochemical Reactions Under Simulated Europa Ocean Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Amashukeli, X.; Connon, S. A.; Gleeson, D. F.; Kowalczyk, R. S.; Pappalardo, R. T.

2007-12-01

Galileo data have demonstrated the probable presence of a liquid water ocean on Europa, and existence of salts and carbon dioxide in the satellite's surface ice (e.g., Carr et al., 1998; McCord et al., 1999, Pappalardo et al., 1999; Kivelson et al., 2000). Subsequently, the discovery of chemical signatures of extinct or extant life in Europa's ocean and on its surface became a distinct possibility. Moreover, understanding of Europa's potential habitability is now one of the major goals of the Europa Orbiter Flagship mission. It is likely, that in the early stages of Europa's ocean formation, moderately alkaline oceanic sulfate-carbonate species and a magnetite-silicate mantel could have participated in low-temperature biogeochemical sulfur, iron and carbon cycles facilitated by primitive organisms (Zolotov and Shock, 2004). If periodic supplies of fresh rock and sulfate-carbonate ions are available in Europa's ocean, then an exciting prospect exists that life may be present in Europa's ocean today. In our laboratory, we began the study of the plausible biogeochemical reactions under conditions appropriate to Europa's ocean using barophilic psychrophilic organisms that thrive under anaerobic conditions. In the near absence of abiotic synthetic pathways due to low Europa's temperatures, the biotic synthesis may present a viable opportunity for the formation of the organic and inorganic compounds under these extreme conditions. This work is independent of assumptions regarding hydrothermal vents at Europa's ocean floor or surface-derived oxidant sources. For our studies, we have fabricated a high-pressure (5,000 psi) reaction vessel that simulates aqueous conditions on Europa. We were also successful at reviving barophilic psychrophilic strains of Shewanella bacterium, which serve as test organisms in this investigation. Currently, facultative barophilic psychrophilic stains of Shewanella are grown in the presence of ferric food source; the strains exhibiting iron

Kinetics of diuron under aerobic condition and residue analysis in sugarcane under subtropical field conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Tandon, Shishir; Pant, Ravi

2017-10-10

The phenylureas group includes persistent herbicides which are major pollutants to soil and water. Dissipation kinetics of diuron in different soils under sugarcane field conditions was investigated. Diuron was extracted with acetone and florisil solid phase extraction clean-up and characterized by high-performance liquid chromatography-UV. Diuron persisted for more than 100 days and dissipation followed monophasic first-order kinetics. Persistence was more in sandy loam compared to silty clay loam soil. Half-life of diuron in silty clay loam soil was 22.57 and 32.37 days and in sandy loam was 28.35 and 43.93 days at 2 and 4 kg ha-1applications, respectively. Average recovery in soil, bagasse, leaf-straw and juice ranged from 75.95% to 84.20%, 80.15% to 89.35%, 77.46% to 86.19% and 81.88% to 92.68%, respectively. The quantitation limits for soil, bagasse, leaf-straw and juice were 0.01, 0.03, 0.04 μg g -1 and 0.008 μg mL -1 , respectively. Application of diuron inhibited growth of soil microbes initially but they recovered later. At harvest, diuron residues were below maximum residue limits in all samples. The study revealed that under subtropical conditions, diuron is safe for use in weed management and would not pose any residual/environmental problem and that sugarcane crop could be used safe for human/animal consumption.

Research on Safety Factor of Dam Slope of High Embankment Dam under Seismic Condition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Bin

2015-01-01

Full Text Available With the constant development of construction technology of embankment dam, the constructed embankment dam becomes higher and higher, and the embankment dam with its height over 200m will always adopt the current design criteria of embankment dam only suitable for the construction of embankment dam lower than 200m in height. So the design criteria of high embankment dam shall be improved. We shall calculate the stability and safety factors of dam slope of high embankment dam under different dam height, slope ratio and different seismic intensity based on ratio of safety margin, and clarify the change rules of stability and safety factors of dam slope of high embankment dam with its height over 200m. We calculate the ratio of safety margin of traditional and reliable method by taking the stable, allowable and reliability index 4.2 of dam slope of high embankment dam with its height over 200m as the standard value, and conduct linear regression for both. As a result, the conditions, where 1.3 is considered as the stability and safety factors of dam slope of high embankment dam with its height over 200m under seismic condition and 4.2 as the allowable and reliability index, are under the same risk control level.

Dynamic behavior of tripolar hip endoprostheses under physiological conditions and their effect on stability.

Science.gov (United States)

Fabry, Christian; Kaehler, Michael; Herrmann, Sven; Woernle, Christoph; Bader, Rainer

2014-01-01

Tripolar systems have been implanted to reduce the risk of recurrent dislocation. However, there is little known about the dynamic behavior of tripolar hip endoprostheses under daily life conditions and achieved joint stability. Hence, the objective of this biomechanical study was to examine the in vivo dynamics and dislocation behavior of two types of tripolar systems compared to a standard total hip replacement (THR) with the same outer head diameter. Several load cases of daily life activities were applied to an eccentric and a concentric tripolar system by an industrial robot. During testing, the motion of the intermediate component was measured using a stereo camera system. Additionally, their behavior under different dislocation scenarios was investigated in comparison to a standard THR. For the eccentric tripolar system, the intermediate component demonstrated the shifting into moderate valgus-positions, regardless of the type of movement. This implant showed the highest resisting torque against dislocation in combination with a large range of motion. In contrast, the concentric tripolar system tended to remain in varus-positions and was primarily moved after stem contact. According to the results, eccentric tripolar systems can work well under in vivo conditions and increase hip joint stability in comparison to standard THRs. Copyright © 2013 IPEM. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Prematurity and low weight at birth as new conditions predisposing to an increased cardiovascular risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Mercuro, Giuseppe; Bassareo, Pier Paolo; Flore, Giovanna; Fanos, Vassilios; Dentamaro, Ilaria; Scicchitano, Pietro; Laforgia, Nicola; Ciccone, Marco Matteo

2013-04-01

Although the survival rate for preterm subjects has improved considerably, due to the progress in the field of perinatal medicine, preterm birth is frequently the cause underlying a series of notorious complications: morphological, neurological, ophthalmological, and renal alterations. In addition, it has recently been demonstrated how low gestational age and reduced foetal growth contribute towards an increased cardiovascular risk in preterm neonates. In fact, cardiovascular mortality is higher among former preterm adults than those born at term. This condition is referred to as cardiovascular perinatal programming. In the light of the above, an early, constant, and prolonged cardiological followup programme should be implemented in former preterm individuals. The aim of this paper was to perform a comprehensive literature review about two new emerging conditions predisposing to an increased cardiovascular risk: prematurity and low weight at birth.

Gaseous losses of fertilizer nitrogen from soils under various conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smirnov, P.M.; Pedishyus, R.K.

1974-01-01

Effects of aerobic and anaerobic conditions; pH, and soil sterilization on the nitrogen loss from ( 15 NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 , Ca( 15 NO 3 ) 2 and Na 15 NO 2 have been studied in vitro. Composition of the liberated gases has been determined by the adsorption chromatography technique. Gaseous losses of fertilizer nitrogen are shown to proceed most intensely during first 10 to 30 days after nitrogen application, Ca(NO 3 ) 2 nitrogen loss being much higher than that of (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 . Under anaerobic conditions nitrogen losses are markedly higher than in the presence of oxygen. Nitrogen of Ca(NO 3 ) 2 and (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 is lost mainly as N 2 O and N 2 , the proportion of NO and NO 2 under aerobic and, particularly, anaerobic conditions is very small. Fertilizer type and aeration affect strongly the composition of liberated gases and the N 2 O:N 2 ratio. Under anaerobic conditions, Ca(NO 3 ) 2 nitrogen, beginning from the first days, is lost mainly as N 2 (75-80%), N 2 O makes up only 12 to 14%. Under aerobic conditions, (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 and Ca(NO 3 ) 2 release initially a considerable amount of N 2 O, its reduction to N 2 being inhibited. In the course of time, however, a noticeable growth of the N 2 fraction occurs and it is accompanied by the decrease in N 2 O. Soil pH effects are related mainly to the composition of gases released rather than to the total nitrogen loss by Ca(NO 3 ) 2 . Under anaerobic conditions, more reduced gaseous products N 2 O and N 2 - are formed at acidic and neutral soil reaction, the amount of N 2 being greater at pH 7 than at pH 4.4. Under aerobic conditions, Ca(NO 3 ) 2 at pH 7 loses nitrogen mostly as N 2 , while under acidic soil reaction (pH 4.1-4.4) the losses occur as N 2 O and in part as NO and NO 2 . Sterilized soil at acidic pH liberates primarily nitrogen oxide which is formed apparently as a result of chemical reactions with participation of nitrites

Risk approximation in decision making: approximative numeric abilities predict advantageous decisions under objective risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Mueller, Silke M; Schiebener, Johannes; Delazer, Margarete; Brand, Matthias

2018-01-22

Many decision situations in everyday life involve mathematical considerations. In decisions under objective risk, i.e., when explicit numeric information is available, executive functions and abilities to handle exact numbers and ratios are predictors of objectively advantageous choices. Although still debated, exact numeric abilities, e.g., normative calculation skills, are assumed to be related to approximate number processing skills. The current study investigates the effects of approximative numeric abilities on decision making under objective risk. Participants (N = 153) performed a paradigm measuring number-comparison, quantity-estimation, risk-estimation, and decision-making skills on the basis of rapid dot comparisons. Additionally, a risky decision-making task with exact numeric information was administered, as well as tasks measuring executive functions and exact numeric abilities, e.g., mental calculation and ratio processing skills, were conducted. Approximative numeric abilities significantly predicted advantageous decision making, even beyond the effects of executive functions and exact numeric skills. Especially being able to make accurate risk estimations seemed to contribute to superior choices. We recommend approximation skills and approximate number processing to be subject of future investigations on decision making under risk.

Mind Wandering in Text Comprehension under Dual-Task Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter eDixon

2013-10-01

Full Text Available In two experiments, subjects responded to on-task probes while reading under dual-task conditions. The secondary task was to monitor the text for occurrences of the letter e. In Experiment 1, reading comprehension was assessed with a multiple-choice recognition test; in Experiment 2, subjects recalled the text. In both experiments, the secondary task replicated the well-known missing-letter effect in which detection of e’s was less effective for the word the. Letter detection was also more effective when subjects were on task, but this effect did not interact with the missing-letter effect. Comprehension was assessed in both the dual-task conditions and in a control single-task conditions. In the single-task conditions, both recognition (Experiment 1 and recall (Experiment 2 was better when subjects were on task, replicating previous research on mind wandering. Surprisingly, though, comprehension under dual-task conditions only showed an effect of being on task when measured with recall; there was no effect on recognition performance. Our interpretation of this pattern of results is that subjects generate their response to on-task probes on the basis of a retrospective assessment of the contents of working memory. Further, we argue that under dual-task conditions, the contents of working memory is not related to the reading processes required for accurate recognition performance. These conclusions have implications for models of text comprehension and for the interpretation of on-task probe responses.

Analyzing Traffic Crash Severity in Work Zones under Different Light Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xinxin Wei

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Previous studies have investigated various factors that contribute to the severity of work zone crashes. However, little has been done on the specific effects of light conditions. Using the data from the Enhanced Tennessee Roadway Information Management System (E-TRIMS, crashes that occurred in the Tennessee work zones during 2003–2015 are categorized into three light conditions: daylight, dark-lighted, and dark-not-lighted. One commonly used decision tree method—Classification and Regression Trees (CART—is adopted to investigate the factors contributing to crash severity in highway work zones under these light conditions. The outcomes from the three decision trees with differing light conditions show significant differences in the ranking and importance of the factors considered in the study, thereby indicating the necessity of examining traffic crashes according to light conditions. By separately considering the crash characteristics under different light conditions, some new findings are obtained from this study. The study shows that an increase in the number of lanes increases the crash severity level in work zones during the day while decreasing the severity at night. Similarly, drugs and alcohol are found to increase the severity level significantly under the dark-not-lighted condition, while they have a limited influence under daylight and dark-lighted conditions.

Metabolic flux analysis of Cyanothece sp. ATCC 51142 under mixotrophic conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Alagesan, Swathi; Gaudana, Sandeep B; Sinha, Avinash; Wangikar, Pramod P

2013-11-01

Cyanobacteria are a group of photosynthetic prokaryotes capable of utilizing solar energy to fix atmospheric carbon dioxide to biomass. Despite several "proof of principle" studies, low product yield is an impediment in commercialization of cyanobacteria-derived biofuels. Estimation of intracellular reaction rates by (13)C metabolic flux analysis ((13)C-MFA) would be a step toward enhancing biofuel yield via metabolic engineering. We report (13)C-MFA for Cyanothece sp. ATCC 51142, a unicellular nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium, known for enhanced hydrogen yield under mixotrophic conditions. Rates of reactions in the central carbon metabolism under nitrogen-fixing and -non-fixing conditions were estimated by monitoring the competitive incorporation of (12)C and (13)C from unlabeled CO2 and uniformly labeled glycerol, respectively, into terminal metabolites such as amino acids. The observed labeling patterns suggest mixotrophic growth under both the conditions, with a larger fraction of unlabeled carbon in nitrate-sufficient cultures asserting a greater contribution of carbon fixation by photosynthesis and an anaplerotic pathway. Indeed, flux analysis complements the higher growth observed under nitrate-sufficient conditions. On the other hand, the flux through the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway and tricarboxylic acid cycle was greater in nitrate-deficient conditions, possibly to supply the precursors and reducing equivalents needed for nitrogen fixation. In addition, an enhanced flux through fructose-6-phosphate phosphoketolase possibly suggests the organism's preferred mode under nitrogen-fixing conditions. The (13)C-MFA results complement the reported predictions by flux balance analysis and provide quantitative insight into the organism's distinct metabolic features under nitrogen-fixing and -non-fixing conditions.

Research on the robust optimization of the enterprise's decision on the investment to the collaborative innovation: Under the risk constraints

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou, Qing; Fang, Gang; Wang, Dong-peng; Yang, Wei

2016-01-01

Abstracts: The robust optimization model is applied to analyze the enterprise's decision of the investment portfolio for the collaborative innovation under the risk constraints. Through the mathematical model deduction and the simulation analysis, the research result shows that the enterprise's investment to the collaborative innovation has relatively obvious robust effect. As for the collaborative innovation, the return from the investment coexists with the risk of it. Under the risk constraints, the robust optimization method could solve the minimum risk as well as the proportion of each investment scheme in the portfolio on the condition of different target returns from the investment. On the basis of the result, the enterprise could balance between the investment return and risk and make optimal decision on the investment scheme.

Photodegradation of clothianidin under simulated California rice field conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Mulligan, Rebecca A; Redman, Zachary C; Keener, Megan R; Ball, David B; Tjeerdema, Ronald S

2016-07-01

Photodegradation can be a major route of dissipation for pesticides applied to shallow rice field water, leading to diminished persistence and reducing the risk of offsite transport. The objective of this study was to characterize the aqueous-phase photodegradation of clothianidin under simulated California rice field conditions. Photodegradation of clothianidin was characterized in deionized, Sacramento River and rice field water samples. Pseudo-first-order rate constants and DT50 values in rice field water (mean k = 0.0158 min(-1) ; mean DT50 = 18.0 equivalent days) were significantly slower than in deionized water (k = 0.0167 min(-1) ; DT50 = 14.7 equivalent days) and river water (k = 0.0146 min(-1) ; DT50 = 16.6 equivalent days) samples. Quantum yield ϕc values demonstrate that approximately 1 and 0.5% of the light energy absorbed results in photochemical transformation in pure and field water respectively. Concentrations of the photodegradation product thiazolymethylurea in aqueous photolysis samples were determined using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and accounted for ≤17% in deionized water and ≤8% in natural water. Photodegradation rates of clothianidin in flooded rice fields will be controlled by turbidity and light attenuation. Aqueous-phase photodegradation may reduce the risk of offsite transport of clothianidin from flooded rice fields (via drainage) and mitigate exposure to non-target organisms. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.

Conditional Economic Incentives for Reducing HIV Risk Behaviors: Integration of Psychology and Behavioral Economics

Science.gov (United States)

Operario, Don; Kuo, Caroline C.; Sosa-Rubí, Sandra G.; Gálarraga, Omar

2014-01-01

Objective This paper reviews psychology and behavioral economic approaches to HIV prevention, and examines the integration and application of these approaches in conditional economic incentive (CEI) programs for reducing HIV risk behavior. Methods We discuss the history of HIV prevention approaches, highlighting the important insights and limitations of psychological theories. We provide an overview of the theoretical tenets of behavioral economics that are relevant to HIV prevention, and utilize CEIs as an illustrative example of how traditional psychological theories end behavioral economics can be combined into new approaches for HIV prevention. Results Behavioral economic interventions can complement psychological frameworks for reducing HIV risk by introducing unique theoretical understandings about the conditions under which risky decisions are amenable to intervention. Findings from illustrative CEI programs show mixed but generally promising effects of economic interventions on HIV and STI prevalence, HIV testing, HIV medication adherence, and drug use. Conclusion CEI programs can complement psychological interventions for HIV prevention and behavioral risk reduction. To maximize program effectiveness, CEI programs must be designed according to contextual and population-specific factors that may determine intervention applicability and success. PMID:24001243

Conditional economic incentives for reducing HIV risk behaviors: integration of psychology and behavioral economics.

Science.gov (United States)

Operario, Don; Kuo, Caroline; Sosa-Rubí, Sandra G; Gálarraga, Omar

2013-09-01

This article reviews psychology and behavioral economic approaches to HIV prevention, and examines the integration and application of these approaches in conditional economic incentive (CEI) programs for reducing HIV risk behavior. We discuss the history of HIV prevention approaches, highlighting the important insights and limitations of psychological theories. We provide an overview of the theoretical tenets of behavioral economics that are relevant to HIV prevention, and utilize CEIs as an illustrative example of how traditional psychological theories and behavioral economics can be combined into new approaches for HIV prevention. Behavioral economic interventions can complement psychological frameworks for reducing HIV risk by introducing unique theoretical understandings about the conditions under which risky decisions are amenable to intervention. Findings from illustrative CEI programs show mixed but generally promising effects of economic interventions on HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevalence, HIV testing, HIV medication adherence, and drug use. CEI programs can complement psychological interventions for HIV prevention and behavioral risk reduction. To maximize program effectiveness, CEI programs must be designed according to contextual and population-specific factors that may determine intervention applicability and success. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Stability of prebiotic, laminaran oligosaccharide under food processing conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Chamidah, A.

2018-04-01

Prebiotic stability tests on laminaran oligosaccharide under food processing conditions were urgently performed to determine the ability of prebiotics deal with processing. Laminaran, oligosaccharide is produced from enzymatic hydrolysis. To further apply this prebiotic, it is necessary to test its performance on food processing. Single prebiotic or in combination with probiotic can improve human digestive health. The effectiveness evaluation of prebiotic should be taken into account in regards its chemical and functional stabilities. This study aims to investigate the stability of laminaran, oligosaccharide under food processing condition.

Decision-making under risk conditions is susceptible to interference by a secondary executive task.

Science.gov (United States)

Starcke, Katrin; Pawlikowski, Mirko; Wolf, Oliver T; Altstötter-Gleich, Christine; Brand, Matthias

2011-05-01

Recent research suggests two ways of making decisions: an intuitive and an analytical one. The current study examines whether a secondary executive task interferes with advantageous decision-making in the Game of Dice Task (GDT), a decision-making task with explicit and stable rules that taps executive functioning. One group of participants performed the original GDT solely, two groups performed either the GDT and a 1-back or a 2-back working memory task as a secondary task simultaneously. Results show that the group which performed the GDT and the secondary task with high executive load (2-back) decided less advantageously than the group which did not perform a secondary executive task. These findings give further evidence for the view that decision-making under risky conditions taps into the rational-analytical system which acts in a serial and not parallel way as performance on the GDT is disturbed by a parallel task that also requires executive resources.

Aircraft and ground vehicle friction measurements obtained under winter runway conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Yager, Thomas J.

1989-01-01

Tests with specially instrumented NASA B-737 and B-727 aircraft together with several different ground friction measuring devices have been conducted for a variety of runway surface types and wetness conditions. This effort is part of the Joint FAA/NASA Aircraft/Ground Vehicle Runway Friction Program aimed at obtaining a better understanding of aircraft ground handling performance under adverse weather conditions, and defining relationships between aircraft and ground vehicle tire friction measurements. Aircraft braking performance on dry, wet, snow-, and ice-covered runway conditions is discussed together with ground vehicle friction data obtained under similar runway conditions. For the wet, compacted snow- and ice-covered runway conditions, the relationship between ground vehicles and aircraft friction data is identified. The influence of major test parameters on friction measurements such as speed, test tire characteristics, and surface contaminant-type are discussed. The test results indicate that use of properly maintained and calibrated ground vehicles for monitoring runway friction conditions should be encouraged particularly under adverse weather conditions.

A flexible model for actuarial risks under dependence

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Albers, Willem/Wim; Kallenberg, W.C.M.; Lukocius, V.

Methods for computing risk measures, such as stop-loss premiums, tacitly assume independence of the underlying individual risks. This can lead to huge errors even when only small dependencies occur. In the present paper, a general model is developed which covers what happens in practice in a

Aridity under conditions of increased CO2

Science.gov (United States)

Greve, Peter; Roderick, Micheal L.; Seneviratne, Sonia I.

2016-04-01

A string of recent of studies led to the wide-held assumption that aridity will increase under conditions of increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations and associated global warming. Such results generally build upon analyses of changes in the 'aridity index' (the ratio of potential evaporation to precipitation) and can be described as a direct thermodynamic effect on atmospheric water demand due to increasing temperatures. However, there is widespread evidence that contradicts the 'warmer is more arid' interpretation, leading to the 'global aridity paradox' (Roderick et al. 2015, WRR). Here we provide a comprehensive assessment of modeled changes in a broad set of dryness metrics (primarily based on a range of measures of water availability) over a large range of realistic atmospheric CO2 concentrations. We use an ensemble of simulations from of state-of-the-art climate models to analyse both equilibrium climate experiments and transient historical simulations and future projections. Our results show that dryness is, under conditions of increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations and related global warming, generally decreasing at global scales. At regional scales we do, however, identify areas that undergo changes towards drier conditions, located primarily in subtropical climate regions and the Amazon Basin. Nonetheless, the majority of regions, especially in tropical and mid- to northern high latitudes areas, display wetting conditions in a warming world. Our results contradict previous findings and highlight the need to comprehensively assess all aspects of changes in hydroclimatological conditions at the land surface. Roderick, M. L., P. Greve, and G. D. Farquhar (2015), On the assessment of aridity with changes in atmospheric CO2, Water Resour. Res., 51, 5450-5463

Biotransformation of monoaromatic hydrocarbons under anoxic conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ball, H.A.; Reinhard, M.; McCarty, P.L.

1991-01-01

Aromatic hydrocarbons contained in gasoline are environmental pollutants of particular concern since they are relatively soluble in water, many are toxic, and some are confirmed carcinogens, (e.g., benzene). Although most gasoline constituents are readily degraded in aerobic surface water systems, the groundwater environment associated with hydrocarbon spills is typically anaerobic, thus precluding aerobic degradation pathways. In the absence of oxygen, degradation of gasoline components can take place only with the utilization of alternate electron acceptors such as nitrate, sulfate, carbon dioxide, and possibly ferric iron or other metal oxides. Benzene, toluene, and xylene isomers were completely degraded by aquifer- or sewage sludge-derived microorganisms under dentrifying and methanogenic conditions. Recently, a pure culture was found to degrade toluene and m-xylene nitrate or nitrous oxide as an electron acceptor. This paper presents initial results of ongoing study to develop and characterize microbial consortia capable of transforming aromatic hydrocarbons under nitrate-reducing conditions, and understand the effect of environmental factors on the biotransformation processes

The dissolution kinetics of magnetite under regenerative conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ranganathan, S.

2004-01-01

Dissolution studies of magnetite were carried out under regenerative conditions in dilute chemical decontamination formulations. During regeneration of the formulation, the H + from the strong acid cation exchange resin gets released and the metal is absorbed on the resin. The efficiency of the regenerative process depends on the stability constants of the complexes involved and the selectivity on the ion exchange column. The regenerative condition helps to maintain a constant chelating agent concentration and pH during the dissolution experiment. Such a condition is ideal for obtaining data on the dissolution behaviour of the corrosion products with special application to actual reactor decontamination. The ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) based formulation used was found to be ineffective due to the high stability constant of Fe(III)-EDTA complex, which is not easily cleaved by the cation exchange resin. Hence, knowledge of the kinetics of magnetite dissolution under regenerative condition is of primary importance. The 2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid formulation is found to be better for the dissolution of Fe 3 O 4 in both static and regenerative modes in the presence of reductants than nitrilotriacetic acid and EDTA. (orig.)

The dissolution kinetics of magnetite under regenerative conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ranganathan, S. [New Brunswick Univ., Frederiction (Canada). Dept. of Chemical Engineering; Raghavan, P.S.; Gopalan, R.; Srinivasan, M.P.; Narasimhan, S.V. [Water and Steam Chemistry Lab. of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) (India)

2004-07-01

Dissolution studies of magnetite were carried out under regenerative conditions in dilute chemical decontamination formulations. During regeneration of the formulation, the H{sup +} from the strong acid cation exchange resin gets released and the metal is absorbed on the resin. The efficiency of the regenerative process depends on the stability constants of the complexes involved and the selectivity on the ion exchange column. The regenerative condition helps to maintain a constant chelating agent concentration and pH during the dissolution experiment. Such a condition is ideal for obtaining data on the dissolution behaviour of the corrosion products with special application to actual reactor decontamination. The ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) based formulation used was found to be ineffective due to the high stability constant of Fe(III)-EDTA complex, which is not easily cleaved by the cation exchange resin. Hence, knowledge of the kinetics of magnetite dissolution under regenerative condition is of primary importance. The 2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid formulation is found to be better for the dissolution of Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} in both static and regenerative modes in the presence of reductants than nitrilotriacetic acid and EDTA. (orig.)

Assessment of microclimate conditions under artificial shades in a ginseng field.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Kyu Jong; Lee, Byun-Woo; Kang, Je Yong; Lee, Dong Yun; Jang, Soo Won; Kim, Kwang Soo

2016-01-01

Knowledge on microclimate conditions under artificial shades in a ginseng field would facilitate climate-aware management of ginseng production. Weather data were measured under the shade and outside the shade at two fields located in Gochang-gun and Jeongeup-si, Korea, in 2011 and 2012 seasons to assess temperature and humidity conditions under the shade. An empirical approach was developed and validated for the estimation of leaf wetness duration (LWD) using weather measurements outside the shade as inputs to the model. Air temperature and relative humidity were similar between under the shade and outside the shade. For example, temperature conditions favorable for ginseng growth, e.g., between 8°C and 27°C, occurred slightly less frequently in hours during night times under the shade (91%) than outside (92%). Humidity conditions favorable for development of a foliar disease, e.g., relative humidity > 70%, occurred slightly more frequently under the shade (84%) than outside (82%). Effectiveness of correction schemes to an empirical LWD model differed by rainfall conditions for the estimation of LWD under the shade using weather measurements outside the shade as inputs to the model. During dew eligible days, a correction scheme to an empirical LWD model was slightly effective (10%) in reducing estimation errors under the shade. However, another correction approach during rainfall eligible days reduced errors of LWD estimation by 17%. Weather measurements outside the shade and LWD estimates derived from these measurements would be useful as inputs for decision support systems to predict ginseng growth and disease development.

Negotiation Decision Support Systems: Analysing Negotiations under the Conditions of Risk

OpenAIRE

Nipun Agarwal

2014-01-01

Negotiation Theory is a research area with emphasis from three different research streams being game theory, psychology and negotiation analysis. Recently, negotiation theory research has moved towards the combination of game theory and psychology negotiation theory models that could be called Integrated Negotiation Theory (INT). As, negotiations are often impacted by external factors, there is risk associated with achieving the expected outcomes. Prospect theory and Negotiation theory are co...

Ecohydrology of agroecosystems: probabilistic description of yield reduction risk under limited water availability

Science.gov (United States)

Vico, Giulia; Porporato, Amilcare

2013-04-01

Supplemental irrigation represents one of the main strategies to mitigate the effects of climate variability and stabilize yields. Irrigated agriculture currently provides 40% of food production and its relevance is expected to further increase in the near future, in face of the projected alterations of rainfall patterns and increase in food, fiber, and biofuel demand. Because of the significant investments and water requirements involved in irrigation, strategic choices are needed to preserve productivity and profitability, while maintaining a sustainable water management - a nontrivial task given the unpredictability of the rainfall forcing. To facilitate decision making under uncertainty, a widely applicable probabilistic framework is proposed. The occurrence of rainfall events and irrigation applications are linked probabilistically to crop development during the growing season and yields at harvest. Based on these linkages, the probability density function of yields and corresponding probability density function of required irrigation volumes, as well as the probability density function of yields under the most common case of limited water availability are obtained analytically, as a function of irrigation strategy, climate, soil and crop parameters. The full probabilistic description of the frequency of occurrence of yields and water requirements is a crucial tool for decision making under uncertainty, e.g., via expected utility analysis. Furthermore, the knowledge of the probability density function of yield allows us to quantify the yield reduction hydrologic risk. Two risk indices are defined and quantified: the long-term risk index, suitable for long-term irrigation strategy assessment and investment planning, and the real-time risk index, providing a rigorous probabilistic quantification of the emergence of drought conditions during a single growing season in an agricultural setting. Our approach employs relatively few parameters and is thus easily and

Expected Business Conditions and Bond Risk Premia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eriksen, Jonas Nygaard

This paper studies the predictability of bond risk premia by means of expectations to future business conditions using survey forecasts from the Survey of Professional Forecasters. We show that expected business conditions consistently affect excess bond returns and that the inclusion of expected...... business conditions in standard predictive regressions improve forecast performance relative to models using information derived from the current term structure or macroeconomic variables. The results are confirmed in a real-time out-of-sample exercise, where the predictive accuracy of the models...... is evaluated both statistically and from the perspective of a mean-variance investor that trades in the bond market....

Operation of static series compensator under distorted utility conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Awad, H.; Nelsen, H.; Blaabjerg, Frede

2005-01-01

in the case of distorted grid voltage. Furthermore, a selective harmonic compensation strategy is applied to filter out the grid harmonics. The operation of the SSC under distorted utility conditions and voltage dips is discussed. The validity of the proposed controller is verified by experiments, carried out...... on a 10-kV SSC laboratory setup. Experimental results have shown the ability of the SSC to mitigate voltage dips and harmonics. It is also shown that the proposed controller has improved the transient performance of the SSC even under distorted utility conditions....

Muscular outputs during dynamic bench press under stable versus unstable conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Koshida, Sentaro; Urabe, Yukio; Miyashita, Koji; Iwai, Kanzunori; Kagimori, Aya

2008-09-01

Previous studies have suggested that resistance training exercise under unstable conditions decreases the isometric force output, yet little is known about its influence on muscular outputs during dynamic movement. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of an unstable condition on power, force, and velocity outputs during the bench press. Twenty male collegiate athletes (mean age, 21.3 +/- 1.5 years; mean height, 167.7 +/- 7.7 cm; mean weight, 75.9 +/- 17.5 kg) participated in this study. Each subject attempted 3 sets of single bench presses with 50% of 1 repetition maximum (1RM) under a stable condition with a flat bench and an unstable condition with a Swiss ball. Acceleration data were obtained with an accelerometer attached to the center of a barbell shaft, and peak outputs of power, force, and velocity were computed. Although significant loss of the peak outputs was found under the unstable condition (p velocity outputs, compared with previous findings. Such small reduction rates of muscular outputs may not compromise the training effect. Prospective studies are necessary to confirm whether the resistance training under an unstable condition permits the improvement of dynamic performance and trunk stability.

Allergic conditions and risk of hematological malignancies in adults: a cohort study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Schwartzbaum Judith

2004-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Two contradictory hypotheses have been proposed to explain the relationship between allergic conditions and malignancies, the immune surveillance hypothesis and the antigenic stimulation hypothesis. The former advocates that allergic conditions may be protective against development of cancer, whereas the latter proposes an increased risk. This relationship has been studied in several case-control studies, but only in a few cohort studies. Methods The association between allergic conditions and risk of developing leukemia, Hodgkin's disease, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and myeloma was investigated in a cohort of 16,539 Swedish twins born 1886–1925. Prospectively collected, self-reported information about allergic conditions such as asthma, hay fever or eczema was obtained through questionnaires administered in 1967. The cohort was followed 1969–99 and cancer incidence was ascertained from the Swedish Cancer Registry. Results Hives and asthma tended to increase the risk of leukemia (relative risk [RR] = 2.1, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 1.0–4.5 and RR = 1.6, 95% CI 0.8–3.5, respectively. There was also an indication of an increased risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma associated with eczema during childhood (RR = 2.3, 95% CI 1.0–5.3. Conclusion In contrast to most previous studies, our results do not indicate a protective effect of allergic conditions on the risk of developing hematological malignancies. Rather, they suggest that allergic conditions might increase the risk of some hematological malignancies.

Survival and Recovery of Methanotrophic Bacteria Starved Under Oxic and Anoxic Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Roslev, Peter; King, Gary M.

1994-01-01

The effects of carbon deprivation on survival of methanotrophic bacteria were compared in cultures incubated in the presence and absence of oxygen in the starvation medium. Survival and recovery of the examined methanotrophs were generally highest for cultures starved under anoxic conditions as indicated by poststarvation measurements of methane oxidation, tetrazolium salt reduction, plate counts, and protein synthesis. Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b survived up to 6 weeks of carbon deprivation under anoxic conditions while maintaining a physiological state that allowed relatively rapid (hours) methane oxidation after substrate addition. A small fraction of cells starved under oxic and anoxic conditions (4 and 10%, respectively) survived more than 10 weeks but required several days for recovery on plates and in liquid medium. A non-spore-forming methanotroph, strain WP 12, displayed 36 to 118% of its initial methane oxidation capacity after 5 days of carbon deprivation. Oxidation rates varied with growth history prior to the experiments as well as with starvation conditions. Strain WP 12 starved under anoxic conditions showed up to 90% higher methane oxidation activity and 46% higher protein production after starvation than did cultures starved under oxic conditions. Only minor changes in biomass and niorpholow were seen for methanotrophic bacteria starved tinder anoxic conditions. In contrast, starvation under oxic conditions resulted in morphology changes and an initial 28 to 35% loss of cell protein. These data suggest that methanotrophic bacteria can survin,e carbon deprivation under anoxic conditions by using maintenance energy derived Solelyr from an anaerobic endogenous metabolism. This capability could partly explain a significant potential for methane oxidation in environments not continuously, supporting aerobic methanotrophic growth.

Researches of WWER fuel rods behaviour under RIA accident conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nechaeva, O.; Medvedev, A.; Novikov, V.; Salatov, A.

2003-01-01

Unirradiated fuel rod and refabricated fuel rod tests in the BIGR as well as acceptance criteria proving absence of fragmentation and the settlement modeling of refabricated fuel rods thermomechanical behavior in the BIGR-tests using RAPTA-5 code are discussed in this paper. The behaviour of WWER type simulators with E110 and E635 cladding was researched at the BIGR reactor under power pulse conditions simulating reactivity initiated accident. The results of the tests in four variants of experimental conditions are submitted. The behaviour of 12 WWER type refabricated fuel rods was researched in the BIGR reactor under power pulse conditions simulating reactivity initiated accident: burnup 48 and 60 MWd/kgU, pulse width 3 ms, peak fuel enthalpy 115-190 cal/g. The program of future tests in the research reactor MIR with high burnup fuel rod (up to 70 MWd/kgU) under conditions simulating design RIA in WWER-1000 is presented

Protein patterns of black fungi under simulated Mars-like conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Zakharova, Kristina; Marzban, Gorji; de Vera, Jean-Pierre; Lorek, Andreas; Sterflinger, Katja

2014-05-29

Two species of microcolonial fungi - Cryomyces antarcticus and Knufia perforans - and a species of black yeasts-Exophiala jeanselmei - were exposed to thermo-physical Mars-like conditions in the simulation chamber of the German Aerospace Center. In this study the alterations at the protein expression level from various fungi species under Mars-like conditions were analyzed for the first time using 2D gel electrophoresis. Despite of the expectations, the fungi did not express any additional proteins under Mars simulation that could be interpreted as stress induced HSPs. However, up-regulation of some proteins and significant decreasing of protein number were detected within the first 24 hours of the treatment. After 4 and 7 days of the experiment protein spot number was increased again and the protein patterns resemble the protein patterns of biomass from normal conditions. It indicates the recovery of the metabolic activity under Martian environmental conditions after one week of exposure.

Control Strategy for Microgrid Inverter under Unbalanced Grid Voltage Conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Guo, Xiaoqiang; Liu, Wenzhao; Zhang, X.

2014-01-01

This paper presents the theoretical analysis of the inherent reason of current harmonic and power oscillation phenomena in case of operating the microgrid inverter under unbalanced grid voltage conditions. In order to flexibly control the current harmonic and power oscillation, a new stationary...... inverter. Finally, the performance evaluation tests are carried out under unbalanced grid voltage conditions. Results verify the effectiveness of the propose method....

Survey on morphometric characteristic of different developmental stages of Dermacentor marginatus under laboratory conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Mehdi Darvishi

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Objective: To study the morphometric characteristics and biology of different developmental stages of Dermacentor marginatus (D. marginatus under laboratory conditions. Methods: D. marginatus ticks were collected from sheep in Shahmirzad and suburb. The identification of D. marginatus was carried out by means of stereoscope and light microscope according to available systematic keys. Nourished female ticks weight and their length of body, capitulum and mouth parts were measured. After laying eggs and breeding, the weight of all developmental larva stages and the length of mouth parts were measured and recorded carefully. Results: The mean of egg dimension was 566 µm伊436 µm. The length of unfed larva body, hypostome and capitulum were (690依10 µm, (75依5 µm and (172依7 µm, respectively. The weight of egg was calculated 0.05 mg and the weight of unfed larva, nymph and female were 0.02 mg, 0.14 mg and 4.66 mg, respectively; whereas the weight of replete larva, nymph and female were recorded 0.5 mg, 11 mg and 380 mg, respectively. Moreover, the length of unfed nymph, hypostome and capitulum were recorded (1300依50 µm, (135依5 µm and (280依10 µm, respectively. The longest length and width in replete female were observed to be 12.6 mm伊8.4 mm. Conclusions: The current investigation presents new information on biology of D. marginatus under standard laboratory conditions. Besides, investigation on ticks under laboratory conditions increases our knowledge regarding their biology and potential risks.

Multi-element accumulation near Rumex crispus roots under wetland and dryland conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kissoon, La Toya T.; Jacob, Donna L.; Otte, Marinus L.

2010-01-01

Rumex crispus was grown under wet and dry conditions in two-chamber columns such that the roots were confined to one chamber by a 21 μm nylon mesh, thus creating a soil-root interface ('rhizoplane'). Element concentrations at 3 mm intervals below the 'rhizoplane' were measured. The hypothesis was that metals accumulate near plant roots more under wetland than dryland conditions. Patterns in element distribution were different between the treatments. Under dryland conditions Al, Ba, Cu, Cr, Fe, K, La, Mg, Na, Sr, V, Y and Zn accumulated in soil closest to the roots, above the 'rhizoplane' only. Under wetland conditions Al, Fe, Cr, K, V and Zn accumulated above as well as 3 mm below the 'rhizoplane' whereas La, Sr and Y accumulated 3 mm below the 'rhizoplane' only. Plants on average produced 1.5 times more biomass and element uptake was 2.5 times greater under wetland compared to dryland conditions. - Patterns of element accumulation near the roots of plants differ between dryland and wetland conditions.

Proliferation and differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells under hypoxic conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ren Hongying; Cao Ying; Zhao, Qinjun; Li Jing; Zhou Cixiang; Liao Lianming; Jia Mingyue; Zhao Qian; Cai Huiguo; Han Zhongchao; Yang Renchi; Chen Guoqiang; Zhao, R.C.

2006-01-01

Low oxygen tension is a potent differentiation inducer of numerous cell types and an effective stimulus of many gene expressions. Here, we described that under 8% O 2 , bone marrow stromal cells (MSCs) exhibited proliferative and morphologic changes. The level of differentiated antigen H-2Dd and the number of G 2 /S/M phase cells increased evidently under 8% O 2 condition. Also, the proportion of wide, flattened, and epithelial-like cells (which were alkaline phosphatase staining positive) in MSCs increased significantly. When cultured in adipogenic medium, there was a 5- to 6-fold increase in the number of lipid droplets under hypoxic conditions compared with that in normoxic culture. We also demonstrated the existence of MSC differentiation under hypoxic conditions by electron microscopy. Expression of Oct4 was inhibited under 8% O 2 condition, but after adipocyte differentiation in normoxic culture and hypoxia-mimicking agents cobalt chloride (CoCl 2 ) and deferoxamine mesylate (DFX) treatments, Oct4 was still expressed in MSCs. These results indicate hypoxia accelerates MSC differentiation and hypoxia and hypoxia-mimicking agents exert different effects on MSC differentiation

Enhancement of wind stress evaluation method under storm conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yingjian; Yu, Xiping

2016-12-01

Wind stress is an important driving force for many meteorological and oceanographical processes. However, most of the existing methods for evaluation of the wind stress, including various bulk formulas in terms of the wind speed at a given height and formulas relating the roughness height of the sea surface with wind conditions, predict an ever-increasing tendency of the wind stress coefficient as the wind speed increases, which is inconsistent with the field observations under storm conditions. The wave boundary layer model, which is based on the momentum and energy conservation, has the advantage to take into account the physical details of the air-sea interaction process, but is still invalid under storm conditions without a modification. By including the energy dissipation due to the presence of sea spray, which is speculated to be an important aspect of the air-sea interaction under storm conditions, the wave boundary layer model is improved in this study. The improved model is employed to estimate the wind stress caused by an idealized tropical cyclone motion. The computational results show that the wind stress coefficient reaches its maximal value at a wind speed of about 40 m/s and decreases as the wind speed further increases. This is in fairly good agreement with the field data.

Long-term corrosion/oxidation studies under controlled humidity conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gdowski, G.

1997-01-01

Independent of thermal loading scenarios, the waste packages at the potential repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada will be exposed to environmental conditions where there is the possibility of significant water film formation occurring on the waste packages. Water films can cause aggressive aqueous film electrochemical corrosion on susceptible metals or alloys. Water film formation will be facilitated when relative humidities are high, when hygroscopic salts are present on the surfaces, when corrosion products are hygroscopic, and when particles form crevices with the surfaces (capillary effect). Also certain gaseous contaminants, such as, NO x and SO 2 , can facilitate water film formation. It should be noted that water film formation can occur at isolated spots (e.g. surface defects and salt particles) and need not cover the entire surface for electrochemical corrosion to occur. This activity will characterize the long term corrosion of metal specimens at two nominal relative humidities (50 and 85%) and at 80 C. Under the low relative humidity (50%) condition, water film formation is expected to be limited and therefore aqueous film electrochemical corrosion is expected also to be limited. Under the high relative humidity (85%) condition, significant water film formation is expected to occur under some test conditions, and subsequently aqueous film electrochemical corrosion will occur on susceptible materials

Peculiarities of the risk management system organization in current conditions

OpenAIRE

MIKHIN P.O.

2014-01-01

Risk-management system organization problem is topical nowadays. The innovation activity is defined as an activity vulnerable to risk and needs more attention. The basic approaches and elements of organization structure development in risk-management system are considered to find out the best structure for business modelling usage. Balance and combination of risk-management system types are required in current conditions.

Decision-Making Under Risk, but Not Under Ambiguity, Predicts Pathological Gambling in Discrete Types of Abstinent Substance Users.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Michael J; Vassileva, Jasmin

2018-01-01

This study explored how different forms of reward-based decision-making are associated with pathological gambling (PG) among abstinent individuals with prior dependence on different classes of drugs. Participants had lifetime histories of either "pure" heroin dependence ( n = 64), "pure" amphetamine dependence ( n = 51), or polysubstance dependence ( n = 89), or had no history of substance dependence ( n = 133). Decision-making was assessed via two neurocognitive tasks: (1) the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), a measure of decision-making under ambiguity (i.e., uncertain risk contingencies); and (2) the Cambridge Gambling task (CGT), a measure of decision-making under risk (i.e., explicit risk contingencies). The main effects of neurocognitive performance and drug class on PG (defined as ≥3 DSM-IV PG symptoms) as well as their interactional effects were assessed via multiple linear regression. Two CGT indices of decision-making under risk demonstrated positive main effects on PG. Interaction effects indicated that the effects of decision-making under risk on PG were largely consistent across participant groups. Notably, a linear relationship between greater CGT Risk-Taking and PG symptoms was not observed among amphetamine users, whereas IGT performance was selectively and positively associated with PG in polysubstance users. Overall, results indicate that reward-based decision-making under risk may represent a risk factor for PG across substance users, with some variations in these relationships influenced by specific class of substance of abuse.

PAH dissipation in a contaminated river sediment under oxic and anoxic conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Quantin, C.; Joner, E.J.; Portal, J.M.; Berthelin, J.

2005-01-01

A batch experiment was conducted to compare PAH degradation in a polluted river sediment under aerobic and anaerobic conditions, and to investigate whether input of fresh organic material (cellulose) could enhance such degradation. All measurements were checked against abiotic control treatments to exclude artifacts of sample preparation and non-biological processes like aging. Three- and four-ring PAHs could be degraded by the indigenous microbial community under aerobic conditions, but anaerobic metabolism based on iron and sulphate reduction was not coupled with PAH degradation of even the simplest 3-ring compounds like phenanthrene. Cellulose addition stimulated both aerobic and anaerobic respiration, but had no effect on PAH dissipation. We conclude that natural attenuation of PAHs in polluted river sediments under anaerobic conditions is exceedingly slow. Dredging and biodegradation on land under aerobic conditions would be required to safely remediate and restore polluted sites. - Natural attenuation of PAHs under anaerobic conditions is exceedingly slow

Degradation of Poly (lactic acid under Simulated Landfill Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chomnutcha Boonmee

2017-03-01

Full Text Available In this study, the physical and chemical properties change of poly(lactic acid after burying in the mixture of soil and sludge under thermophilic (61 °C oxygen limited conditions were investigated using various analytical techniques. The environmental factors under these setting conditions and microbial activities accelerated the degradation process of PLA. Under tested conditions, PLA loss their weight about 90% at the burying time of 90 days. During the degradation process, PLA samples were continuously broken to small fragile fragments and showed the size less than 1 mm at the end of degradation test. Change of the surface morphology change was revealed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM. Many pores, cracks and irregular roughness were presented on the PLA surface. Thermal decomposition was decreased from 387.8 to 289.2 °C. The percentage of carbon content in molecular structure decreased from 49.46% to 45.42%. In addition, the Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR revealed the change of ester bonds. This study can be used for developing PLA waste management process.

Tocopherols in Sunflower Seedlings under Light and Dark Conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

del Moral, Lidia; Pérez-Vich, Begoña; Velasco, Leonardo

2015-01-01

The objective of this study was to evaluate the dynamics of tocopherols in cotyledons and radicles from sunflower seeds with high and low total tocopherol content, mainly in the α-tocopherol form, and from seeds with increased proportions of β-, γ-, and δ-tocopherol, both under dark and light conditions. Tocopherol content was measured every 24 h from 1 to 12 days after sowing. In all cases, the content of individual tocopherol forms in the cotyledons and radicles was reduced along the sampling period, which was more pronounced under light conditions. The presence of light had a slightly greater effect on α- and γ-tocopherol than on β- and δ-tocopherol. A marked light effect was also observed on total tocopherol content, with light promoting the reduction of tocopherol content in cotyledons and radicles. The study revealed only slight differences in the patterns of tocopherol losses in lines with different tocopherol profiles, both under dark and light conditions, which suggested that the partial replacement of α-tocopherol by other tocopherol forms had no great impact on the protection against oxidative damage in seedlings.

Biodegradation of triclosan and formation of methyl-triclosan in activated sludge under aerobic conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chen, Xijuan; Nielsen, Jeppe Lund; Furgal, Karolina

2011-01-01

of triclosan- methyl was investigated in activated sludge from a standard activated sludge WWTP equipped with enhanced biological phosphorus removal. The removal was found to occur mainly under aerobic conditions while under anoxic (nitrate reducing) and anaerobic conditions rather low removal rates were...... determined. In a laboratory-scale activated sludge reactor 75% of the triclosan was removed under aerobic conditions within 150 h, while no removal was observed under anaerobic or anoxic conditions. One percent of the triclosan was converted to triclosan-methyl under aerobic conditions, less under anoxic...

Burnout characteristics under flow reduction condition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iwamura, Takamichi; Kuroyanagai, Toshiyuki

1982-01-01

Burnout characteristics in a uniformly heated, vertically oriented tube, under flow reduction condition, were experimentally studied. Test pressures ranged 0.5 -- 3.9 MPa and flow reduction rates 0.6 -- 35%/s. An analytical method was developed to obtain the local mass velocity during a transient condition. The local mass velocity at the burnout location with an increasing flow reduction rate was slightly different from that measured in steady state tests. The system pressure had a significant effect on the difference. An empirical correlation was presented to give the ratio between the transient and steady state burnout mass velocities at the burnout location as a function of the steam-water density ratio and the flow reduction rate. Experimental results of previous work were compared with this correlation. (author)

Assessment of the risk of failure of high voltage substations due to environmental conditions and pollution on insulators.

Science.gov (United States)

Castillo Sierra, Rafael; Oviedo-Trespalacios, Oscar; Candelo, John E; Soto, Jose D

2015-07-01

Pollution on electrical insulators is one of the greatest causes of failure of substations subjected to high levels of salinity and environmental pollution. Considering leakage current as the main indicator of pollution on insulators, this paper focuses on establishing the effect of the environmental conditions on the risk of failure due to pollution on insulators and determining the significant change in the magnitude of the pollution on the insulators during dry and humid periods. Hierarchical segmentation analysis was used to establish the effect of environmental conditions on the risk of failure due to pollution on insulators. The Kruskal-Wallis test was utilized to determine the significant changes in the magnitude of the pollution due to climate periods. An important result was the discovery that leakage current was more common on insulators during dry periods than humid ones. There was also a higher risk of failure due to pollution during dry periods. During the humid period, various temperatures and wind directions produced a small change in the risk of failure. As a technical result, operators of electrical substations can now identify the cause of an increase in risk of failure due to pollution in the area. The research provides a contribution towards the behaviour of the leakage current under conditions similar to those of the Colombian Caribbean coast and how they affect the risk of failure of the substation due to pollution.

An Evaluation of Fracture Toughness of Vinyl Ester Composites Cured under Microwave Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Ku, H.; Chan, W. L.; Trada, M.; Baddeley, D.

2007-12-01

The shrinkage of vinyl ester particulate composites has been reduced by curing the resins under microwave conditions. The reduction in the shrinkage of the resins by microwaves will enable the manufacture of large vinyl ester composite items possible (H.S. Ku, G. Van Erp, J.A.R. Ball, and S. Ayers, Shrinkage Reduction of Thermoset Fibre Composites during Hardening using Microwaves Irradiation for Curing, Proceedings, Second World Engineering Congress, Kuching, Malaysia, 2002a, 22-25 July, p 177-182; H.S. Ku, Risks Involved in Curing Vinyl Ester Resins Using Microwaves Irradiation. J. Mater. Synth. Proces. 2002b, 10(2), p 97-106; S.H. Ku, Curing Vinyl Ester Particle Reinforced Composites Using Microwaves. J. Comp. Mater., (2003a), 37(22), p 2027-2042; S.H. Ku and E. Siores, Shrinkage Reduction of Thermoset Matrix Particle Reinforced Composites During Hardening Using Microwaves Irradiation, Trans. Hong Kong Inst. Eng., 2004, 11(3), p 29-34). In tensile tests, the yield strengths of samples cured under microwave conditions obtained are within 5% of those obtained by ambient curing; it is also found that with 180 W microwave power, the tensile strengths obtained for all duration of exposure to microwaves are also within the 5% of those obtained by ambient curing. While, with 360 W microwave power, the tensile strengths obtained for all duration of exposure to microwaves are 5% higher than those obtained by ambient curing. Whereas, with 540 W microwave power, the tensile strengths obtained for most samples are 5% below those obtained by ambient curing (H. Ku, V.C. Puttgunta, and M. Trada, Young’s Modulus of Vinyl Ester Composites Cured by Microwave Irradiation: Preliminary Results, J. Electromagnet. Waves Appl., 2007, 20(14), p. 1911-1924). This project, using 33% by weight fly ash reinforced vinyl ester composite [VE/FLYSH (33%)], is to further investigate the difference in fracture toughness between microwave cured vinyl ester particulate composites and those cured

Impaired decision-making under risk in individuals with alcohol dependence

Science.gov (United States)

Brevers, Damien; Bechara, Antoine; Cleeremans, Axel; Kornreich, Charles; Verbanck, Paul; Noël, Xavier

2014-01-01

Background Alcohol dependence is associated with poor decision-making under ambiguity, that is, when decisions are to be made in the absence of known probabilities of reward and loss. However, little is known regarding decisions made by individuals with alcohol dependence in the context of known probabilities (decision under risk). In this study, we investigated the relative contribution of these distinct aspects of decision making to alcohol dependence. Methods Thirty recently detoxified and sober asymptomatic alcohol-dependent individuals, and thirty healthy control participants were tested for decision-making under ambiguity (using the Iowa Gambling Task), and decision-making under-risk (using the Cups Task and Coin Flipping Task). We also tested their capacities for working memory storage (Digit-span Forward), and dual-tasking (Operation-span Task). Results Compared to healthy control participants, alcohol-dependent individuals made disadvantageous decisions on the Iowa Gambling Task, reflecting poor decisions under ambiguity. They also made more risky choices on the Cups and Coin Flipping Tasks reflecting poor decision-making under risk. In addition, alcohol-dependent participants showed some working memory impairments, as measured by the dual tasking, and the degree of this impairment correlated with high-risk decision-making, thus suggesting a relationship between processes sub-serving working memory and risky decisions. Conclusion These results suggest that alcohol dependent individuals are impaired in their ability to decide optimally in multiple facets of uncertainty (i.e., both risk and ambiguity), and that at least some aspects of these deficits are linked to poor working memory processes. PMID:24948198

Behaviour of electrical cables under fire conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bertrand, R.; Chaussard, M.; Gonzalez, R.; Lacoue, J.; Mattei, J.M.; Such, J.M.

2002-01-01

A Fire Probabilistic Safety Assessment - called the Fire PSA - is being carried out by the French Institute of Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IPSN) to be used in the framework of the safety assessment of operating 900 MWe PWRs. The aim of this study is to evaluate the core damage conditional probability which could result from a fire. A fire can induce unavailability of safety equipment, notably damaging electrical cables introducing a significant risk contributor. The purpose of this paper is to present the electrical cable fire tests carried out by IPSN to identify the failure modes and to determine the cable damage criteria. The impact of each kind of cable failure mode and the methodology used to estimate the conditional probability of a failure mode when cable damage occurred is also discussed. (orig.) [de

Storage of pineapple fruits under different conditions: implication on ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

An experiment was carried out at Abeokuta to investigate the effects of storage conditions popularly used in Abeokuta metropolis on freshly harvested pineapple fruits. The pineapple fruits were harvested from a farmer's field and stored for 40 days under three conditions: refridgeration (mean temperature 10 0 C), Ambient ...

Hybrid Gear Performance Under Loss-of-Lubrication Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Laberge, Kelsen E.; Berkebile, Stephen P.; Handschuh, Robert F.; Roberts, Gary D.

2017-01-01

Hybrid composite gear technology is being investigated to increase power density in rotorcraft drive systems. These gears differ from conventional steel gears in that the structural web material is replaced with a lightweight carbon fiber composite. Past studies have focused on performance of this technology under normal operating conditions, however, for this technology to be viable it must also withstand adverse conditions. The study presented here evaluates the performance of hybrid gears under loss-of-lubrication conditions in NASA Glenn Research Centers Contact Fatigue Test Facility. Two experiments are presented using small-scale 3.5 inch (8.9 cm) pitch diameter hybrid gears and compared to a baseline steel gear pair. Results of these tests show that there are limitations to the use of a hexagonal interlock pattern between the steel and composite. There is also evidence that the presence of polymer in the gear during an oil out event has a potential to increase time to failure. Further studies are planned to expand on these initial findings.

Anticipatory stress influences decision making under explicit risk conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Starcke, Katrin; Wolf, Oliver T; Markowitsch, Hans J; Brand, Matthias

2008-12-01

Recent research has suggested that stress may affect memory, executive functioning, and decision making on the basis of emotional feedback processing. The current study examined whether anticipatory stress affects decision making measured with the Game of Dice Task (GDT), a decision-making task with explicit and stable rules that taps both executive functioning and feedback learning. The authors induced stress in 20 participants by having them anticipate giving a public speech and also examined 20 comparison subjects. The authors assessed the level of stress with questionnaires and endocrine markers (salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase), both revealing that speech anticipation led to increased stress. Results of the GDT showed that participants under stress scored significantly lower than the comparison group and that GDT performance was negatively correlated with the increase of cortisol. Our results indicate that stress can lead to disadvantageous decision making even when explicit and stable information about outcome contingencies is provided.

Aerial somersault performance under three visual conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Hondzinski, J M; Darling, W G

2001-07-01

Experiments were designed to examine the visual contributions to performance of back aerial double somersaults by collegiate acrobats. Somersaults were performed on a trampoline under three visual conditions: (a) NORMAL acuity; (b) REDUCED acuity (subjects wore special contacts that blocked light reflected onto the central retina); and (c) NO VISION. Videotaped skill performances were rated by two NCAA judges and digitized for kinematic analyses. Subjects' performance scores were similar in NORMAL and REDUCED conditions and lowest in the NO VISION condition. Control of body movement, indicated by time-to-contact, was most variable in the NO VISION condition. Profiles of angular head and neck velocity revealed that when subjects could see, they slowed their heads prior to touchdown in time to process optical flow information and prepare for landing. There was not always enough time to process vision associated with object identification and prepare for touchdown. It was concluded that collegiate acrobats do not need to identify objects for their best back aerial double somersault performance.

An Evaluation of Carbon Steel Corrosion Under Stagnant Seawater Conditions

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Lee, Jason

2004-01-01

Corrosion, of 1020 carbon steel coupons in, natural seawater over a six-month period was more aggressive under stagnant anaerobic conditions than stagnant aerobic conditions as measured by weight loss...

Stability of captopril in powder papers under three storage conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taketomo, C.K.; Chu, S.A.; Cheng, M.H.; Corpuz, R.P.

1990-01-01

The stability of captopril in powder papers under three different storage conditions was determined. Captopril 12.5-mg tablets were triturated with lactose to a final concentration of 2 mg of captopril in 100 mg of powder. A total of 240 powder papers were prepared and stored in class A prescription vials (80 papers), 002G plastic zip-lock bags (80 papers), and Moisture Proof Barrier Bags (80 papers). Immediately after preparation and at 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 12, and 24 weeks of storage at room temperature, powder papers under each storage condition were reweighed and the contents were assayed for captopril concentration by a stability-indicating high-performance liquid chromatographic method. More than 90% of the initial captopril concentration was retained under all storage conditions during the first 12 weeks of the study. Captopril disulfide, a degradation product, was detected in one sample stored in a plastic zip-lock bag at 24 weeks. Captopril was stable for the entire 24-week period in powder papers stored in either the class A prescription vial or the Moisture Proof Barrier Bag. Captopril in powder papers is stable for at least 12 weeks when stored at room temperature under all three storage conditions

Multiobjective genetic algorithm approaches to project scheduling under risk

OpenAIRE

Kılıç, Murat; Kilic, Murat

2003-01-01

In this thesis, project scheduling under risk is chosen as the topic of research. Project scheduling under risk is defined as a biobjective decision problem and is formulated as a 0-1 integer mathematical programming model. In this biobjective formulation, one of the objectives is taken as the expected makespan minimization and the other is taken as the expected cost minimization. As the solution approach to this biobjective formulation genetic algorithm (GA) is chosen. After carefully invest...

Cognitive Processes in Decisions Under Risk Are Not the Same As in Decisions Under Uncertainty

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kirsten G Volz

2012-07-01

Full Text Available We deal with risk versus uncertainty, a distinction that is of fundamental importance for cognitive neuroscience yet largely neglected. In a world of risk (small world, all alternatives, consequences, and probabilities are known. In uncertain (large worlds, some of this information is unknown or unknowable. Most of cognitive neuroscience studies exclusively study the neural correlates for decisions under risk (e.g., lotteries, with the tacit implication that understanding these would lead to an understanding of decision making in general. First, we show that normative strategies for decisions under risk do not generalize to uncertain worlds, where simple heuristics are often the more accurate strategies. Second, we argue that the cognitive processes for making decisions in a world of risk are not the same as those for dealing with uncertainty. Because situations with known risks are the exception rather than the rule in human evolution, it is unlikely that our brains are adapted to them. We therefore suggest a paradigm shift towards studying decision processes in uncertain worlds and provide first examples.

The Eschenmoser coupling reaction under continuous-flow conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Sukhdeep; Köhler, J Michael; Schober, Andreas

2011-01-01

Summary The Eschenmoser coupling is a useful carbon–carbon bond forming reaction which has been used in various different synthesis strategies. The reaction proceeds smoothly if S-alkylated ternary thioamides or thiolactames are used. In the case of S-alkylated secondary thioamides or thiolactames, the Eschenmoser coupling needs prolonged reaction times and elevated temperatures to deliver valuable yields. We have used a flow chemistry system to promote the Eschenmoser coupling under enhanced reaction conditions in order to convert the demanding precursors such as S-alkylated secondary thioamides and thiolactames in an efficient way. Under pressurized reaction conditions at about 220 °C, the desired Eschenmoser coupling products were obtained within 70 s residence time. The reaction kinetics was investigated and 15 examples of different building block combinations are given. PMID:21915222

The Eschenmoser coupling reaction under continuous-flow conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sukhdeep Singh

2011-08-01

Full Text Available The Eschenmoser coupling is a useful carbon–carbon bond forming reaction which has been used in various different synthesis strategies. The reaction proceeds smoothly if S-alkylated ternary thioamides or thiolactames are used. In the case of S-alkylated secondary thioamides or thiolactames, the Eschenmoser coupling needs prolonged reaction times and elevated temperatures to deliver valuable yields. We have used a flow chemistry system to promote the Eschenmoser coupling under enhanced reaction conditions in order to convert the demanding precursors such as S-alkylated secondary thioamides and thiolactames in an efficient way. Under pressurized reaction conditions at about 220 °C, the desired Eschenmoser coupling products were obtained within 70 s residence time. The reaction kinetics was investigated and 15 examples of different building block combinations are given.

Investigating Gender Differences under Time Pressure in Financial Risk Taking.

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Zhixin; Page, Lionel; Hardy, Ben

2017-01-01

There is a significant gender imbalance on financial trading floors. This motivated us to investigate gender differences in financial risk taking under pressure. We used a well-established approach from behavior economics to analyze a series of risky monetary choices by male and female participants with and without time pressure. We also used second to fourth digit ratio (2D:4D) and face width-to-height ratio (fWHR) as correlates of pre-natal exposure to testosterone. We constructed a structural model and estimated the participants' risk attitudes and probability perceptions via maximum likelihood estimation under both expected utility (EU) and rank-dependent utility (RDU) models. In line with existing research, we found that male participants are less risk averse and that the gender gap in risk attitudes increases under moderate time pressure. We found that female participants with lower 2D:4D ratios and higher fWHR are less risk averse in RDU estimates. Males with lower 2D:4D ratios were less risk averse in EU estimations, but more risk averse using RDU estimates. We also observe that men whose ratios indicate a greater prenatal exposure to testosterone exhibit a greater optimism and overestimation of small probabilities of success.

Experimental and theoretical study on natural circulation capacity under rolling motion condition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tan Sichao; Gao Puzhen

2007-01-01

Effect of rolling motion on natural circulation capacity was studied experimentally and theoretically. Experiments were conducted under the conditions of rolling and unrolling motions. The experimental results show that natural circulation capacity decreases under rolling motion condition. A mathematic model was developed to calculate the natural circulation capacity under rolling motion condition, considering the characteristics of natural circulation, the model was modified. The calculated results agree with experimental data well. Effect of rolling motion on natural circulation was analyzed through calculation and the following conclusions were obtained: (1) The increase of flow resistance coefficient is the main reason that the natural circulation capacity decreases under rolling motion condition; (2) Non-uniform distribution of fluid mass in the pipe has also influence on natural circulation capacity. (author)

Quantified Risk Ranking Model for Condition-Based Risk and Reliability Centered Maintenance

Science.gov (United States)

Chattopadhyaya, Pradip Kumar; Basu, Sushil Kumar; Majumdar, Manik Chandra

2017-06-01

In the recent past, risk and reliability centered maintenance (RRCM) framework is introduced with a shift in the methodological focus from reliability and probabilities (expected values) to reliability, uncertainty and risk. In this paper authors explain a novel methodology for risk quantification and ranking the critical items for prioritizing the maintenance actions on the basis of condition-based risk and reliability centered maintenance (CBRRCM). The critical items are identified through criticality analysis of RPN values of items of a system and the maintenance significant precipitating factors (MSPF) of items are evaluated. The criticality of risk is assessed using three risk coefficients. The likelihood risk coefficient treats the probability as a fuzzy number. The abstract risk coefficient deduces risk influenced by uncertainty, sensitivity besides other factors. The third risk coefficient is called hazardous risk coefficient, which is due to anticipated hazards which may occur in the future and the risk is deduced from criteria of consequences on safety, environment, maintenance and economic risks with corresponding cost for consequences. The characteristic values of all the three risk coefficients are obtained with a particular test. With few more tests on the system, the values may change significantly within controlling range of each coefficient, hence `random number simulation' is resorted to obtain one distinctive value for each coefficient. The risk coefficients are statistically added to obtain final risk coefficient of each critical item and then the final rankings of critical items are estimated. The prioritization in ranking of critical items using the developed mathematical model for risk assessment shall be useful in optimization of financial losses and timing of maintenance actions.

Issues of the economic risks theory under direct taxation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vyacheslav Aleksandrovich Slavin

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Objective to calculate and justify the probabilistic characteristics of the economic risks of the company selling goods with profit and suffering from the burden of direct taxation. The economic nature and mechanisms of tax risks are described. Methods probabilisticdynamic method based on a few mathematically formulated principles ndash probability principle the principle of measurement etc. The method allows to find the optimal distributions of the phase variables components of the decisions vector of the production system numerical characteristics of which mathematical expectation variance covariance etc. bear the necessary information about the optimal properties of the economic actorsrsquobehavior. Results the basic equation of probabilisticdynamic method ndash the SchrodingerBellman equation ndash was integratedthe function of state was found the normal distribution was obtained of the vector of economic decisions in the phase space of the firm. The phase trajectories and the effective areas of the variables dispersion phase were researched. It is shown that at the intersection of the variation areas of normal distributions corresponding to two different production conditions there is a possibility of spontaneous transitions between these states accompanied by losses of capital assets of the company. The transition probabilities and the expression for average losses of working capital were calculated. It is shown that the inclusion of weak field tax perturbation leads to the modulation of the probability curves and average losses obtained earlier in the work by V.A. Slavin and I.N. Urusova quotMarket dynamics of productioneconomic system. 2. Transitions between production conditions. Elements of risks theoryquot for the company in the absence of taxation. The author outlines the nature of modulation of the main characteristics of tax risks related to the fact that the tax field influences the production system by phase trajectories

Proliferation and differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells under hypoxic conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hongying, Ren; Huiguo, Cai; Zhongchao, Han; Renchi, Yang; Zhao, Qinjun [State Key Lab of Experimental Hematology, Institute of Hematology and Blood Disease Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union of Medical College, Tianjin (China); Ying, Cao; Jing, Li [Institute of Basic Medical Sciences and School of Basic Medicine, Center of Excellence in Tissue Engineering, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing (China); Cixiang, Zhou [Health Science Center, Shanghai Institutes of Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Science-SSMU, Shanghai (China); Lianming, Liao; Mingyue, Jia [Institute of Basic Medical Sciences and School of Basic Medicine, Center of Excellence in Tissue Engineering, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing (China); Qian, Zhao [Health Science Center, Shanghai Institutes of Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Science-SSMU, Shanghai (China); Guoqiang, Chen [Health Science Center, Shanghai Institutes of Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Science-SSMU, Shanghai (China); Zhao, R C [State Key Lab of Experimental Hematology, Institute of Hematology and Blood Disease Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union of Medical College, Tianjin (China); [Institute of Basic Medical Sciences and School of Basic Medicine, Center of Excellence in Tissue Engineering, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing (China)]. E-mail: chunhuaz@public.tpt.tj.cn

2006-08-18

Low oxygen tension is a potent differentiation inducer of numerous cell types and an effective stimulus of many gene expressions. Here, we described that under 8% O{sub 2}, bone marrow stromal cells (MSCs) exhibited proliferative and morphologic changes. The level of differentiated antigen H-2Dd and the number of G{sub 2}/S/M phase cells increased evidently under 8% O{sub 2} condition. Also, the proportion of wide, flattened, and epithelial-like cells (which were alkaline phosphatase staining positive) in MSCs increased significantly. When cultured in adipogenic medium, there was a 5- to 6-fold increase in the number of lipid droplets under hypoxic conditions compared with that in normoxic culture. We also demonstrated the existence of MSC differentiation under hypoxic conditions by electron microscopy. Expression of Oct4 was inhibited under 8% O{sub 2} condition, but after adipocyte differentiation in normoxic culture and hypoxia-mimicking agents cobalt chloride (CoCl{sub 2}) and deferoxamine mesylate (DFX) treatments, Oct4 was still expressed in MSCs. These results indicate hypoxia accelerates MSC differentiation and hypoxia and hypoxia-mimicking agents exert different effects on MSC differentiation.

Decision making under ambiguity but not under risk is related to problem gambling severity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brevers, Damien; Cleeremans, Axel; Goudriaan, Anna E.; Bechara, Antoine; Kornreich, Charles; Verbanck, Paul; Noël, Xavier

2012-01-01

The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between problem gambling severity and decision-making situations that vary in two degrees of uncertainty (probability of outcome is known: decision-making under risk; probability of outcome is unknown: decision-making under ambiguity). For

PIV measurements in a compact return diffuser under multi-conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, L.; Lu, W. G.; Shi, W. D.

2013-12-01

Due to the complex three-dimensional geometries of impellers and diffusers, their design is a delicate and difficult task. Slight change could lead to significant changes in hydraulic performance and internal flow structure. Conversely, the grasp of the pump's internal flow pattern could benefit from pump design improvement. The internal flow fields in a compact return diffuser have been investigated experimentally under multi-conditions. A special Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) test rig is designed, and the two-dimensional PIV measurements are successfully conducted in the diffuser mid-plane to capture the complex flow patterns. The analysis of the obtained results has been focused on the flow structure in diffuser, especially under part-load conditions. The vortex and recirculation flow patterns in diffuser are captured and analysed accordingly. Strong flow separation and back flow appeared at the part-load flow rates. Under the design and over-load conditions, the flow fields in diffuser are uniform, and the flow separation and back flow appear at the part-load flow rates, strong back flow is captured at one diffuser passage under 0.2Qdes.

Early fasting is long lasting: differences in early nutritional conditions reappear under stressful conditions in adult female zebra finches.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E Tobias Krause

Full Text Available Conditions experienced during early life can have profound effects on individual development and condition in adulthood. Differences in nutritional provisioning in birds during the first month of life can lead to differences in growth, reproductive success and survival. Yet, under natural conditions shorter periods of nutritional stress will be more prevalent. Individuals may respond differently, depending on the period of development during which nutritional stress was experienced. Such differences may surface specifically when poor environmental conditions challenge individuals again as adults. Here, we investigated long term consequences of differences in nutritional conditions experienced during different periods of early development by female zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata on measures of management and acquisition of body reserves. As nestlings or fledglings, subjects were raised under different nutritional conditions, a low or high quality diet. After subjects reached sexual maturity, we measured their sensitivity to periods of food restriction, their exploration and foraging behaviour as well as adult resting metabolic rate (RMR. During a short period of food restriction, subjects from the poor nutritional conditions had a higher body mass loss than those raised under qualitatively superior nutritional conditions. Moreover, subjects that were raised under poor nutritional conditions were faster to engage in exploratory and foraging behaviour. But RMR did not differ among treatments. These results reveal that early nutritional conditions affect adult exploratory behaviour, a representative personality trait, foraging and adult's physiological condition. As early nutritional conditions are reflected in adult phenotypic plasticity specifically when stressful situations reappear, the results suggest that costs for poor developmental conditions are paid when environmental conditions deteriorate.

Prevalence of high, medium and low-risk medical conditions for pneumococcal vaccination in Catalonian middle-aged and older adults: a population-based study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. Ochoa-Gondar

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Updated population-based data on the frequency and distribution of risk factors for pneumococcal disease is scarce. This study investigated the prevalence of distinct comorbidities and underlying risk conditions related to an increasing risk of pneumococcal disease among Catalonian middle-aged and older adults. Methods Cross-sectional population-based study including 2,033,465 individuals aged 50 years or older registered at 01/01/2015 in the Catalonian Health Institute (Catalonia, Spain. The clinical research database of the Information System for the Development of Research in Primary Care (SIDIAP database was used to identify high-risk (asplenia and/or immunocompromising conditions and other increased-risk conditions (chronic pulmonary, cardiac or liver disease, diabetes mellitus, alcoholism and/or smoking among study subjects. Results Globally, 980,310 (48.2% of the 2,033,465 study population had at least one risk condition of suffering pneumococcal disease (55.4% in men vs 42.0% in women, p < 0.001; 41.7% in people 50–64 years vs 54.7% in persons 65 years or older, p < 0.001. An amount of 176,600 individuals (8.7% had high-risk conditions (basically immunocompromising conditions. On the other hand, 803,710 persons (39.5% had one or more other risk conditions. In fact, 212,255 (10.4% had chronic pulmonary diseases, 248,377 (12.2% cardiac disease, 41,734 (2.1% liver disease, 341,535 (16.8% diabetes mellitus, 58,781 (2.9% alcoholism and 317,558 (15.6% were smokers. Conclusion In our setting, approximately 50 % of overall persons 50 years or older may be considered at-risk population for pneumococcal disease (almost 10 % have high-risk conditions and 40 % have other risk conditions.

Experimental characterization of gasoline sprays under highly evaporating conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Muhammad Mahabat; Sheikh, Nadeem Ahmed; Khalid, Azfar; Lughmani, Waqas Akbar

2018-05-01

An experimental investigation of multistream gasoline sprays under highly evaporating conditions is carried out in this paper. Temperature increase of fuel and low engine pressure could lead to flash boiling. The spray shape is normally modified significantly under flash boiling conditions. The spray plumes expansion along with reduction in the axial momentum causes the jets to merge and creates a low-pressure area below the injector's nozzle. These effects initiate the collapse of spray cone and lead to the formation of a single jet plume or a big cluster like structure. The collapsing sprays reduces exposed surface and therefore they last longer and subsequently penetrate more. Spray plume momentum increase, jet plume reduction and spray target widening could delay or prevent the closure condition and limit the penetration (delayed formation of the cluster promotes evaporation). These spray characteristics are investigated experimentally using shadowgraphy, for five and six hole injectors, under various boundary conditions. Six hole injectors produce more collapsing sprays in comparison to five hole injector due to enhanced jet to jet interactions. The spray collapse tendency reduces with increase in injection pressure due high axial momentum of spray plumes. The spray evaporation rates of five hole injector are observed to be higher than six hole injectors. Larger spray cone angles of the six hole injectors promote less penetrating and less collapsing sprays.

Unsteady exergy destruction of the neuron under dynamic stress conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Genc, S.; Sorguven, E.; Ozilgen, M.; Aksan Kurnaz, I.

2013-01-01

Just like all physical systems, biological systems also obey laws of thermodynamics, and as such the useful work potential of a biological system is its exergy. In some studies, exergy of living systems is considered with respect to work performance of humans in offices or buildings; however the exergy analysis of biochemical reactions in a cell as a closed system goes largely untouched. In this study, exergy analysis was applied to glucose metabolism of a model neuron, and dynamic exergy destructions were calculated for four different conditions, namely normoxia, hypoxia, glucose starvation and excess glucose. Our results showed that neuronal metabolism achieved a new steady state under each condition within 5 min. This dynamic model predicts that, both exergy destruction and work potential rates increase with increasing blood glucose concentration. The ratio of exergy destruction rate to work potential rate increases logarithmically with increasing blood glucose concentration. The neuronal metabolism is thus found to function in an efficient way and switches to lower exergy destruction under stress conditions such as glucose starvation. This behavior seen in this exergy analysis study confirms the assumption of minimum entropy production in living systems. - Highlights: • Unsteady exergy analysis of glucose metabolism of a model neuron is performed. • Dynamic exergy losses were calculated for four different conditions: normoxia, hypoxia, glucose starvation and excess glucose. • Neuronal metabolism achieved a new steady state under each condition within 5 min. • Both exergy loss and work potential rates increase with increasing blood glucose concentration. • Neuronal metabolism functions in an efficient way and switches to lower exergy loss under stress conditions

Evaluation of acrylamide-removing properties of two Lactobacillus strains under simulated gastrointestinal conditions using a dynamic system.

Science.gov (United States)

Rivas-Jimenez, L; Ramírez-Ortiz, K; González-Córdova, A F; Vallejo-Cordoba, B; Garcia, H S; Hernandez-Mendoza, A

2016-09-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the capability of Lactobacillus reuteri NRRL 14171 and Lactobacillus casei Shirota to remove dietary acrylamide (AA) under simulated gastrointestinal conditions using a dynamic system. The effects of different AA levels or bacteria concentration on toxin removal by Lactobacillus strains were assessed. Thereafter, AA-removing capability of bacteria strains under either fasting or postprandial simulated gastrointestinal conditions was evaluated. Commercial potato chips were analyzed for their AA content, and then used as a food model. Average AA content (34,162μg/kg) in potato chips exceeded by ca. 34-fold the indicative values recommended by the EU. Toxin removal ability was dependent on AA content and bacterial cell concentration. A reduction on bacterial viability was observed in the food model and at the end of both digestive processes evaluated. However, bacteria survived in enough concentrations to remove part of the toxin (32-73%). Both bacterial strains were able to remove AA under different simulated gastrointestinal conditions, being L. casei Shirota the most effective (ca. 70% removal). These findings confirmed the risk of potato chips as dietary AA exposure for consumers, and that strains of the genus Lactobacillus could be employed to reduce the bioavailability of dietary AA. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Increased cesium uptake by water tupelo under inundated conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McLeod, K.W.

1980-01-01

Low level releases of 137 Cs to streams has resulted in concentrations greater than background levels in soils, sediments and plants of the Savannah River swamp. The object of this study was to determine the effect of inundation on the absorption of 137 Cs by water tupelo (Nyssa aquatica) which is dominant in the swamp and is able to survive and grow well under flooded conditions. Results show that actively growing young water tupelo absorb about twice as much 137 Cs when grown in the laboratory under inundated conditions suggesting that in the spring, when inundated conditions usually exist and rapid growth occurs, uptake of 137 Cs is high. Some Cs is transported from soil depths and returned to soil surface via incorporation into leaves and subsequent leaf fall, thus continually mixing Cs which was buried below the soil surface. (U.K.)

Evaluation of deep drawing force under different friction conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lăzărescu Lucian

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to investigate the variation of the required punch load during the deep drawing process under different friction conditions. In this regards, several deep-drawing tests of cylindrical cups were conducted under four friction conditions at the tool–blank interface. The first case was the dry deep-drawing, considered as a reference friction condition, while in the other three cases hydraulic oil, lithium-based grease and animal fat were used as lubricants. For each friction case, three levels of blank holding force were adopted, namely 10, 20 and 25 kN. The finite element simulation of the deep-drawing process was used to generate a set of calibration curves. By overlapping the experimental load-stroke curves on the calibration curves, the friction coefficient was estimated for each friction case.

Characteristics of modified martensitic stainless steel surfaces under tribocorrosion conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rozing, Goran; Marusic, Vlatko; Alar, Vesna

2017-01-01

Stainless steel samples were tested in the laboratory and under real conditions of tribocorrosion wear. Electrochemical tests were also carried out to verify the corrosion resistance of modified steel surfaces. Metallographic analysis and hardness testing were conducted on stainless steel samples X20Cr13 and X17CrNi16 2. The possibilities of applications of modified surfaces of the selected steels were investigated by testing the samples under real wear conditions. The results have shown that the induction hardened and subsequently nitrided martensitic steels achieved an average wear resistance of up to three orders of magnitude higher as compared to the delivered condition.

Characteristics of modified martensitic stainless steel surfaces under tribocorrosion conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rozing, Goran [Osijek Univ. (Croatia). Chair of Mechanical Engineering; Marusic, Vlatko [Osijek Univ. (Croatia). Dept. of Engineering Materials; Alar, Vesna [Zagreb Univ. (Croatia). Dept. Materials

2017-04-01

Stainless steel samples were tested in the laboratory and under real conditions of tribocorrosion wear. Electrochemical tests were also carried out to verify the corrosion resistance of modified steel surfaces. Metallographic analysis and hardness testing were conducted on stainless steel samples X20Cr13 and X17CrNi16 2. The possibilities of applications of modified surfaces of the selected steels were investigated by testing the samples under real wear conditions. The results have shown that the induction hardened and subsequently nitrided martensitic steels achieved an average wear resistance of up to three orders of magnitude higher as compared to the delivered condition.

Combining ability studies on yield related traits in wheat under normal and water stress conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saeed, A.; Khan, A.S.; Khaliq, I.

2010-01-01

Six diverse wheat cultivars/lines viz; Baviacore, Nesser, 9247, 9252, 9258 and 9267 were crossed in a complete diallel fashion to develop 30 F1 crosses, which were tested along with their parents under normal and water stress conditions. Numerical analysis was made for spike density, number of grains per spike, 100-grain weight, biological yield, grain yield and harvest index. Significant differences among genotypic mean were observed in all of the traits under both conditions. GCA and SCA differences were significant for all the traits under study except spike density and 100-grain weight in both conditions. Wheat variety Nesser showed maximum general combining ability value for spike density under water stress conditions and maximum GCA value for biological yield and grain yield under irrigated condition. The variety Baviacore proved best general combiner for number of grains per spike and harvest index under both conditions while biological yield and grain yield under water stress condition. Variety 9252 found best general combiner for 100-grain weight under both condition. The cross 9252 x Nesser showed maximum specific combining ability value for spike density and biological yield under irrigated while for 100-grain weight under water stress condition. 9258 x 9252 exhibited maximum SCA for number of grains per spike under irrigated while 9258 x Nesser under water stress condition. 9267 x Nesser showed maximum SCA for 100-grain weight under irrigated condition while spike density under water stress condition. 9258 x 9247 was proved best combiner for grain yield and harvest index irrigated while 9267 x 9258 for biological yield, grain yield and harvest index under water stress condition. (author)

Study of transient burnout under flow reduction condition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iwamura, Takamichi

1986-09-01

Transient burnout characteristics of a fuel rod under a rapid flow reduction condition of a light water reactor were experimentally and analytically studied. The test sections were uniformly heated vertical tube and annulus with the heated length of 800 mm. Test pressures ranged 0.5 ∼ 3.9 MPa, heat fluxes 2,160 ∼ 3,860 KW/m 2 , and flow reduction rates 0.44 ∼ 770 %/s. The local flow condition during flow reduction transients were calculated with a separate flow model. The two-fluid/three-field thermal-hydraulic code, COBRA/TRAC, was also used to investigate the liquid film behavior on the heated surface. The major results obtained in the present study are as follows: The onset of burnout under a rapid flow reduction condition was caused by a liquid film dryout on the heated surface. With increasing flow reduction rate beyond a threshold, the burnout mass velocity at the inlet became lower than the steady-state burnout mass velocity. This is explained by the fact that the vapor flow rate continues to increase due to the delay of boiling boundary movement and the resultant high vapor velocity sustains the liquid film flow after the inlet flow rate reaches the steady-state burnout flow rate. The ratio of inlet burnout mass velocities between flow reduction transient and steady-state became smaller with increasing system pressure because of the lower vapor velocity due to the lower vapor specific volume. Flow reduction burnout occurred when the outlet quality agreed with the steady-state burnout quality within 10 %, suggesting that the local condition burnout model can be used for flow reduction transients. Based on this model, a method to predict the time to burnout under a flow reduction condition in a uniformly heated tube was developed. The calculated times to burnout agreed well with some experimental results obtained by the Author, Cumo et al., and Moxon et al. (author)

Study on the Impact of the Private Credit Excess on the Credit Risk under the Massive Capital Inflows Risk under the Massive Capital Inflows

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jong-Hee Kim

2016-09-01

Full Text Available By examining the relationship between private credit growth and the possibility of credit risk while focusing on international capital in 21 countries over the period 2000:1Q-2015:2Q, this paper shows that the impact of private credit growth on credit risk is apparent under the high ratio of capital inflows, and its impact on credit risk in the seven Asian countries is even stronger. And the possibility of credit risk caused by private credit is mainly coming from portfolio inflows rather than direct inflows. Finally, portfolio inflows strengthen the positive relationship between credit excess and credit risk in Asian countries, and this trend is seen more in these after the global financial crisis. Taken together, the stronger positive relationship between credit excess and credit risk can be strengthen under the massive portfolio inflows in particular in the seven Asian countries such as Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand.

Flux Balance Analysis of Escherichia coli under Temperature and pH Stress Conditions

KAUST Repository

Xu, Xiaopeng

2015-05-12

An interesting discovery in biology is that most genes in an organism are dispensable. That means these genes have minor effects on survival of the organism in standard laboratory conditions. One explanation of this discovery is that some genes play important roles in specific conditions and are essential genes under those conditions. E. coli is a model organism, which is widely used. It can adapt to many stress conditions, including temperature, pH, osmotic, antibiotic, etc. Underlying mechanisms and associated genes of each stress condition responses are usually different. In our analysis, we combined protein abundance data and mutant conditional fitness data into E. coli constraint-based metabolic models to study conditionally essential metabolic genes under temperature and pH stress conditions. Flux Balance Analysis was employed as the modeling method to analysis these data. We discovered lists of metabolic genes, which are E. coli dispensable genes, but conditionally essential under some stress conditions. Among these conditionally essential genes, atpA in low pH stress and nhaA in high pH stress found experimental evidences from previous studies. Our study provides new conditionally essential gene candidates for biologists to explore stress condition mechanisms.

Technetium behaviour under deep geological conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kumata, M.; Vandergraaf, T.T.

1993-01-01

The migration behaviour of technetium under deep geological conditions was investigated by performing column tests using groundwater and altered granitic rock sampled from a fracture zone in a granitic pluton at a depth of about 250 m. The experiment was performed under a pressure of about 0.7 MPa in a controlled atmosphere glove box at the 240 m level of the Underground Research Laboratory (URL) near Pinawa, Manitoba, Canada. The technetium was strongly sorbed on the dark mafic minerals in the column. With the exception of a very small unretarded fraction that was eluted with the tritiated water, no further breakthrough of technetium was observed. This strong sorption of technetium on the mineral surface was caused by reduction of Tc(VII), probably to Tc(IV) even though the groundwater was only mildly reducing. (author) 5 figs., 4 tabs., 15 refs

Two retailer-supplier supply chain models with default risk under trade credit policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Chengfeng; Zhao, Qiuhong

2016-01-01

The purpose of the paper is to formulate two uncooperative replenishment models with demand and default risk which are the functions of the trade credit period, i.e., a Nash equilibrium model and a supplier-Stackelberg model. Firstly, we present the optimal results of decentralized decision and centralized decision without trade credit. Secondly, we derive the existence and uniqueness conditions of the optimal solutions under the two games, respectively. Moreover, we present a set of theorems and corollary to determine the optimal solutions. Finally, we provide an example and sensitivity analysis to illustrate the proposed strategy and optimal solutions. Sensitivity analysis reveals that the total profits of supply chain under the two games both are better than the results under the centralized decision only if the optimal trade credit period isn't too short. It also reveals that the size of trade credit period, demand, retailer's profit and supplier's profit have strong relationship with the increasing demand coefficient, wholesale price, default risk coefficient and production cost. The major contribution of the paper is that we comprehensively compare between the results of decentralized decision and centralized decision without trade credit, Nash equilibrium and supplier-Stackelberg models with trade credit, and obtain some interesting managerial insights and practical implications.

Modeling Approach for Oxygen Exchange in the Human Lung under Hypobaric Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

2001-06-01

Operational Medical Issues in Hypo-and Hyperbaric Conditions [les Questions medicales a caractere oprationel liees aux conditions hypobares ou hyperbares ] To...under Hypobaric Conditions DISTRIBUTION: Approved for public release, distribution unlimited This paper is part of the following report: TITLE...Approach for Oxygen Exchange in the Human Lung under Hypobaric Conditions Ing J.P.F. Lindhout*, Drs M. van de Graaff*, Ir Drs R.C. van de Graaff*, Dr

Modelling sulfamethoxazole degradation under different redox conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Sanchez-Vila, X.; Rodriguez-Escales, P.

2015-12-01

Sulfamethoxazole (SMX) is a low adsorptive, polar, sulfonamide antibiotic, widely present in aquatic environments. Degradation of SMX in subsurface porous media is spatially and temporally variable, depending on various environmental factors such as in situ redox potential, availability of nutrients, local soil characteristics, and temperature. It has been reported that SMX is better degraded under anoxic conditions and by co-metabolism processes. In this work, we first develop a conceptual model of degradation of SMX under different redox conditions (denitrification and iron reducing conditions), and second, we construct a mathematical model that allows reproducing different experiments of SMX degradation reported in the literature. The conceptual model focuses on the molecular behavior and contemplates the formation of different metabolites. The model was validated using the experimental data from Barbieri et al. (2012) and Mohatt et al. (2011). It adequately reproduces the reversible degradation of SMX under the presence of nitrite as an intermediate product of denitrification. In those experiments degradation was mediated by the transient formation of a diazonium cation, which was considered responsible of the substitution of the amine radical by a nitro radical, forming the 4-nitro-SMX. The formation of this metabolite is a reversible process, so that once the concentration of nitrite was back to zero due to further advancement of denitrification, the concentration of SMX was fully recovered. The forward reaction, formation of 4-nitro SMX, was modeled considering a kinetic of second order, whereas the backward reaction, dissociation of 4-nitro-SMX back to the original compound, could be modeled with a first order degradation reaction. Regarding the iron conditions, SMX was degraded due to the oxidation of iron (Fe2+), which was previously oxidized from goethite due to the degradation of a pool of labile organic carbon. As the oxidation of iron occurred on the

Framing effects and risk-sensitive decision making.

Science.gov (United States)

Mishra, Sandeep; Gregson, Margaux; Lalumière, Martin L

2012-02-01

Prospect theory suggests that people are risk-averse when facing gains, but risk-prone when facing losses, a pattern known as the framing effect. Although framing effects have been widely demonstrated, few studies have investigated framing effects under conditions of need. Risk-sensitivity theory predicts that decision makers should prefer high-risk options in situations of high need, when lower risk options are unlikely to meet those needs. In two experiments, we examined (1) whether framing effects occurred in behavioural tasks involving risky decision making from description and decision making from experience, (2) whether participants' risky decision making conformed to the predictions of risk-sensitivity theory, and (3) whether decision framing interacted with conditions of need to influence decision making under risk. The results suggest that under all circumstances, risky decision making conformed to the predictions of risk-sensitivity theory. Framing effects were at least partially demonstrable under all experimental conditions. Finally, negative frames interacted with situations of high need to produce particularly elevated levels of risky choice. Together, the results suggest that risk-sensitivity theory can augment prospect theory to explain choice under conditions of need. ©2011 The British Psychological Society.

Performance of solar collectors under low temperature conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bunea, Mircea; Eicher, Sara; Hildbrand, Catherine

The performance of four solar thermal collectors (flat plate, evacuated tube, unglazed with rear insulation and unglazed without rear insulation) was experimentally measured and simulated for temperatures below ambient. The influence of several parameters (e.g. collector inlet temperature, air...... evaluated and results compared to experimental measurements. A mathematical model is also under development to include, in addition to the condensation phenomena, the frost, the rain and the long-wave radiation gains/losses on the rear of the solar collector. While the potential gain from rain was estimated...... to be around 2%, frost heat gains were measured to be up to 40% per day, under specific conditions. Overall, results have shown that unglazed collectors are more efficient than flat plate or evacuated tube collectors at low operation temperatures or for night conditions, making them more suitable for heat pump...

Pathways of the Maillard reaction under physiological conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Henning, Christian; Glomb, Marcus A

2016-08-01

Initially investigated as a color formation process in thermally treated foods, nowadays, the relevance of the Maillard reaction in vivo is generally accepted. Many chronic and age-related diseases such as diabetes, uremia, atherosclerosis, cataractogenesis and Alzheimer's disease are associated with Maillard derived advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) and α-dicarbonyl compounds as their most important precursors in terms of reactivity and abundance. However, the situation in vivo is very challenging, because Maillard chemistry is paralleled by enzymatic reactions which can lead to both, increases and decreases in certain AGEs. In addition, mechanistic findings established under the harsh conditions of food processing might not be valid under physiological conditions. The present review critically discusses the relevant α-dicarbonyl compounds as central intermediates of AGE formation in vivo with a special focus on fragmentation pathways leading to formation of amide-AGEs.

Investigation of some urea derivatives under in vitro conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goersch, R; Bergner, H [Humboldt-Universitaet, Berlin (German Democratic Republic). Sektion Tierproduktion und Veterinaermedizin

1978-10-01

The protein synthesis from urea, isobutylidene diurea (IBDU), acetyl urea and urea phosphate was investigated in vitro under standardized conditions. The /sup 35/S incorporation into the trichloroacetic acid precipitable fraction of the fermentation mixture and the NH/sub 3/ level served as test criteria. If rumen juice of donor animals adapted to urea was used (test 1), only IBDU made possible a protein synthesis comparable to the urea preparation. Under conditions of IBDU adaption of the donor animals (test 2), urea, IBDU and urea phosphate proved to be of equal value. Acetyl urea showed considerably lower incorporation ratios, irrespective of the adaption of the donor animals.

Investigation of some urea derivatives under in vitro conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goersch, R.; Bergner, H.

1978-01-01

The protein synthesis from urea, isobutylidene diurea (IBDU), acetyl urea and urea phosphate was investigated in vitro under standardized conditions. The 35 S incorporation into the trichloroacetic acid precipitable fraction of the fermentation mixture and the NH 3 level served as test criteria. If rumen juice of donor animals adapted to urea was used (test 1), only IBDU made possible a protein synthesis comparable to the urea preparation. Under conditions of IBDU adaption of the donor animals (test 2), urea, IBDU and urea phosphate proved to be of equal value. Acetyl urea showed considerably lower incorporation ratios, irrespective of the adaption of the donor animals. (author)

Evolution of conditional cooperation under multilevel selection.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Huanren; Perc, Matjaž

2016-03-11

We study the emergence of conditional cooperation in the presence of both intra-group and inter-group selection. Individuals play public goods games within their groups using conditional strategies, which are represented as piecewise linear response functions. Accordingly, groups engage in conflicts with a certain probability. In contrast to previous studies, we consider continuous contribution levels and a rich set of conditional strategies, allowing for a wide range of possible interactions between strategies. We find that the existence of conditional strategies enables the stabilization of cooperation even under strong intra-group selection. The strategy that eventually dominates in the population has two key properties: (i) It is unexploitable with strong intra-group selection; (ii) It can achieve full contribution to outperform other strategies in the inter-group selection. The success of this strategy is robust to initial conditions as well as changes to important parameters. We also investigate the influence of different factors on cooperation levels, including group conflicts, group size, and migration rate. Their effect on cooperation can be attributed to and explained by their influence on the relative strength of intra-group and inter-group selection.

Determination of the concentration values for the analysis risk in stationary conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Timidei, A.; Riganti, V.

2009-01-01

The analysis of risk generated by contaminated groundwater is often performed by use of fate and transport models that predict the concentration of a contaminant. To this aim, techniques which make use of software packages are commonly adopted, such as RBCA Tool Kit, Giuditta, Risc and Rome. Some of these methods, however, do not always prove to be satisfactory. It is the purpose of this work to show that under steady state conditions an alternative approach can be used, which makes use of accurately measured concentration values and the basic toxicological relation that defines risk as the product of concentration and exposure. Administrative tasks are consequently simplified and remediation measures better justified. The proposed method has received attention in the literature but it is ignored by Italian semi-official guidelines, which favour instead the more complex and far less precise modelling technique. The method is illustrated with reference to groundwater. It can however be extended to other transport media such as the atmosphere. [it

Heat transfer in turbocharger turbines under steady, pulsating and transient conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burke, R.D.; Vagg, C.R.M.; Chalet, D.; Chesse, P.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Compare turbine heat transfer correlations from different studies. • Compare heat transfer for a same turbine on-engine and on gas-stand. • Analyse heat transfer under steady and transient operating conditions. • Gas stand heat transfer correlations are transferrable to engine conditions. • Heat flows can be reversed compared to steady conditions during transients. - Abstract: Heat transfer is significant in turbochargers and a number of mathematical models have been proposed to account for the heat transfer, however these have predominantly been validated under steady flow conditions. A variable geometry turbocharger from a 2.2 L Diesel engine was studied, both on gas stand and on-engine, under steady and transient conditions. The results showed that heat transfer accounts for at least 20% of total enthalpy change in the turbine and significantly more at lower mechanical powers. A convective heat transfer correlation was derived from experimental measurements to account for heat transfer between the gases and the turbine housing and proved consistent with those published from other researchers. This relationship was subsequently shown to be consistent between engine and gas stand operation: using this correlation in a 1D gas dynamics simulation reduced the turbine outlet temperature error from 33 °C to 3 °C. Using the model under transient conditions highlighted the effect of housing thermal inertia. The peak transient heat flow was strongly linked to the dynamics of the turbine inlet temperature: for all increases, the peak heat flow was higher than under thermally stable conditions due to colder housing. For all decreases in gas temperature, the peak heat flow was lower and for temperature drops of more than 100 °C the heat flow was reversed during the transient

Solubility measurement of iron-selenium compounds under reducing conditions. Research document

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kitamura, Akira; Shibata, Masahiro

2003-03-01

Chemical behavior of selenium (Se), which was one of the important elements for performance assessment of geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste, was investigated under reducing and iron-containing conditions. A washing method for an iron diselenide (FeSe 2 (cr)) reagent with acidic and basic solutions (0.1 and 1 M HCl and 1 M NaOH) was carried out for the purification of FeSe 2 reagent, which was considered to be a solubility limiting solid for Se under the geological disposal conditions. Furthermore, solubility of FeSe 2 (cr) was measured in alkaline solution (pH: 11 - 13) under reducing conditions (E h vs SHE: -0.4 - 0 V), and thermodynamic data on equilibrium reactions between Se in solution and Se precipitate were obtained. The dependencies of solubility values on pH and redox potential (E h : vs. standard hydrogen electrode) were best interpreted that the solubility limiting solid was not FeSe 2 (cr) but Se(cr) and the aqueous species was SeO 3 2- in the present experimental conditions. The equilibrium constant between Se(cr) and SeO 3 2- at zero ionic strength was determined and compared with literature values. The chemical behavior of Se under geological disposal conditions was discussed. (author)

Ultrasonic testing of fatigue cracks under various conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jessop, T.J.; Cameron, A.G.B.

1983-01-01

Reliable detection of the fatigue cracks was possible under all conditions studied. Applied load affected the ultrasonic response in a variety of ways but never more than by 20dB and generally considerably less. Material variations affected the response under applied load by up to 20dB. Oxide in the crack and crack morphology affected the response by up to 9dB (12dB under load). Crack size variations and presence of water had little effect. Sizing accuracy was generally within 2mm although there was a tendency to undersize. The time of flight sizing technique gave the best accuracy if a tensile load was applied

Sensitivity and bias in decision-making under risk: evaluating the perception of reward, its probability and value.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Madeleine E Sharp

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: There are few clinical tools that assess decision-making under risk. Tests that characterize sensitivity and bias in decisions between prospects varying in magnitude and probability of gain may provide insights in conditions with anomalous reward-related behaviour. OBJECTIVE: We designed a simple test of how subjects integrate information about the magnitude and the probability of reward, which can determine discriminative thresholds and choice bias in decisions under risk. DESIGN/METHODS: Twenty subjects were required to choose between two explicitly described prospects, one with higher probability but lower magnitude of reward than the other, with the difference in expected value between the two prospects varying from 3 to 23%. RESULTS: Subjects showed a mean threshold sensitivity of 43% difference in expected value. Regarding choice bias, there was a 'risk premium' of 38%, indicating a tendency to choose higher probability over higher reward. An analysis using prospect theory showed that this risk premium is the predicted outcome of hypothesized non-linearities in the subjective perception of reward value and probability. CONCLUSIONS: This simple test provides a robust measure of discriminative value thresholds and biases in decisions under risk. Prospect theory can also make predictions about decisions when subjective perception of reward or probability is anomalous, as may occur in populations with dopaminergic or striatal dysfunction, such as Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia.

Sensitivity and Bias in Decision-Making under Risk: Evaluating the Perception of Reward, Its Probability and Value

Science.gov (United States)

Sharp, Madeleine E.; Viswanathan, Jayalakshmi; Lanyon, Linda J.; Barton, Jason J. S.

2012-01-01

Background There are few clinical tools that assess decision-making under risk. Tests that characterize sensitivity and bias in decisions between prospects varying in magnitude and probability of gain may provide insights in conditions with anomalous reward-related behaviour. Objective We designed a simple test of how subjects integrate information about the magnitude and the probability of reward, which can determine discriminative thresholds and choice bias in decisions under risk. Design/Methods Twenty subjects were required to choose between two explicitly described prospects, one with higher probability but lower magnitude of reward than the other, with the difference in expected value between the two prospects varying from 3 to 23%. Results Subjects showed a mean threshold sensitivity of 43% difference in expected value. Regarding choice bias, there was a ‘risk premium’ of 38%, indicating a tendency to choose higher probability over higher reward. An analysis using prospect theory showed that this risk premium is the predicted outcome of hypothesized non-linearities in the subjective perception of reward value and probability. Conclusions This simple test provides a robust measure of discriminative value thresholds and biases in decisions under risk. Prospect theory can also make predictions about decisions when subjective perception of reward or probability is anomalous, as may occur in populations with dopaminergic or striatal dysfunction, such as Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia. PMID:22493669

Equivalent Electrical Circuits of Thermoelectric Generators under Different Operating Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saima Siouane

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Energy harvesting has become a promising and alternative solution to conventional energy generation patterns to overcome the problem of supplying autonomous electrical systems. More particularly, thermal energy harvesting technologies have drawn a major interest in both research and industry. Thermoelectric Generators (TEGs can be used in two different operating conditions, under constant temperature gradient or constant heat flow. The commonly used TEG electrical model, based on a voltage source in series with an electrical resistance, shows its limitations especially under constant heat flow conditions. Here, the analytical electrical modeling, taking into consideration the internal and contact thermal resistances of a TEG under constant temperature gradient and constant heat flow conditions, is first given. To give further insight into the electrical behavior of a TEG module in different operating conditions, we propose a new and original way of emulating the above analytical expressions with usual electronics components (voltage source, resistors, diode, whose values are determined with the TEG’s parameters. Note that such a TEG emulation is particularly suited when designing the electronic circuitry commonly associated to the TEG, to realize both Maximum Power Point Tracking and output voltage regulation. First, the proposed equivalent electrical circuits are validated through simulation with a SPICE environment in static operating conditions using only one value of either temperature gradient or heat flow. Then, they are also analyzed in dynamic operating conditions where both temperature gradient and heat flow are considered as time-varying functions.

Stabilization Mechanism of Roxithromycin Tablets under Gastric pH Conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Inukai, Koki; Noguchi, Shuji; Kimura, Shin-Ichiro; Itai, Shigeru; Iwao, Yasunori

2018-05-31

Macrolide antibiotics are widely used at clinical sites. Clarithromycin (CAM), a 14-membered macrolide antibiotic, was reported to gelate under acidic conditions. Gelation allows oral administration of acid-sensitive CAM without enteric coating by hindering the penetration of gastric fluid into CAM tablets. However, it is unknown whether this phenomenon occurs in other macrolide antibiotics. In this study, we examined the gelation ability of three widely used macrolide antibiotics, roxithromycin (RXM), erythromycin A (EM), and azithromycin (AZM). The results indicated that not only CAM but also RXM gelated under acidic conditions. EM and AZM did not gelate under the same conditions. Gelation of RXM delayed the disintegration of the tablet and release of RXM from the tablet. Disintegration and release were also delayed in commercial RXM tablets containing disintegrants. This study showed that two of the four macrolides gelated, which affects tablet disintegration and dissolution and suggests that this phenomenon might also occur in other macrolides. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

PIV measurements in a compact return diffuser under multi-conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou, L; Lu, W G; Shi, W D

2013-01-01

Due to the complex three-dimensional geometries of impellers and diffusers, their design is a delicate and difficult task. Slight change could lead to significant changes in hydraulic performance and internal flow structure. Conversely, the grasp of the pump's internal flow pattern could benefit from pump design improvement. The internal flow fields in a compact return diffuser have been investigated experimentally under multi-conditions. A special Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) test rig is designed, and the two-dimensional PIV measurements are successfully conducted in the diffuser mid-plane to capture the complex flow patterns. The analysis of the obtained results has been focused on the flow structure in diffuser, especially under part-load conditions. The vortex and recirculation flow patterns in diffuser are captured and analysed accordingly. Strong flow separation and back flow appeared at the part-load flow rates. Under the design and over-load conditions, the flow fields in diffuser are uniform, and the flow separation and back flow appear at the part-load flow rates, strong back flow is captured at one diffuser passage under 0.2Q des

PROBABILITY SURVEYS , CONDITIONAL PROBABILITIES AND ECOLOGICAL RISK ASSESSMENT

Science.gov (United States)

We show that probability-based environmental resource monitoring programs, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (U.S. EPA) Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program, and conditional probability analysis can serve as a basis for estimating ecological risk over ...

Flux Balance Analysis of Escherichia coli under Temperature and pH Stress Conditions

KAUST Repository

Xu, Xiaopeng

2015-01-01

important roles in specific conditions and are essential genes under those conditions. E. coli is a model organism, which is widely used. It can adapt to many stress conditions, including temperature, pH, osmotic, antibiotic, etc. Underlying mechanisms

Reactions of animals and people under conditions of brief weightlessness

Science.gov (United States)

Kitayev-Smik, L. A.

1975-01-01

It has been shown that under brief weightlessness sensory reactions arise in a number of people, mainly those under these conditions for the first time, in the form of spatial and visual illusions, motor excitation, in which tonic and motor components can be distinguished, and vestibular-vegetative disturbances (nausea, vomiting, etc.). In repeated flights with creation of weightlessness, a decrease in the extent of expression and, then, disappearance of these reactions occurred in a significant majority of those studied. Experiments in weightlessness with the vision cut off and with the absence of vestibular functions in the subjects confirm the hypothesis that spatial conceptions of people in weightlessness depend on predominance of gravireceptor or visual afferent signals under these conditions.

Seismotectonic Conditions and Seismic Risk in Gori

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Varazanashvili, O.; Tsereteli, N.; Sumbadze, B.; Mukhadze, T.

2006-01-01

The seismic history and seismotectonic conditions of earthquake initiation are investigated in Gori and surrounding area. The main parameters of the newly discovered past earthquake at Takhtisdziri are estimated. The levels of seismic risk of 7,8 and 9 intensity scenario earthquakes estimated in Gori. Also damage of sity caused by destroying Kartli earthquake of 1920 is estimated. (author)

Transformation of carbon tetrachloride under sulfate reducing conditions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Best, Jappe H. de; Salminen, E.; Doddema, Hans J.; Janssen, Dick B.; Harder, Wim

1998-01-01

The removal of carbon tetrachloride under sulfate reducing conditions was studied in an anaerobic packed-bed reactor. Carbon tetrachloride, up to a concentration of 30 µM, was completely converted. Chloroform and dichloromethane were the main transformation products, but part of the carbon

Transformation of carbon tetrachloride under sulfate reducing conditions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Best, JH; Salminen, E; Doddema, HJ; Janssen, DB; Harder, W

1997-01-01

The removal of carbon tetrachloride under sulfate reducing conditions was studied in an anaerobic packed-bed reactor. Carbon tetrachloride, up to a concentration of 30 mu M, was completely converted. Chloroform and dichloromethane were the main transformation products, but part of the carbon

Perpetual American vanilla option pricing under single regime change risk: an exhaustive study

Science.gov (United States)

Montero, Miquel

2009-07-01

Perpetual American options are financial instruments that can be readily exercised and do not mature. In this paper we study in detail the problem of pricing this kind of derivatives, for the most popular flavour, within a framework in which some of the properties—volatility and dividend policy—of the underlying stock can change at a random instant of time but in such a way that we can forecast their final values. Under this assumption we can model actual market conditions because most relevant facts usually entail sharp predictable consequences. The effect of this potential risk on perpetual American vanilla options is remarkable: the very equation that will determine the fair price depends on the solution to be found. Sound results are found under the optics both of finance and physics. In particular, a parallelism among the overall outcome of this problem and a phase transition is established.

Hygienic assessment of working conditions and occupational risk for workers health at railway transport objects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V.A. Loginova

2017-06-01

Full Text Available We performed hygienic assessment of working conditions at railway transport over 2011–2015. We detected a decreasing trend in specific weight of working places where physical factors were higher than hygienic standards and where steam and gases content in working area air was higher than maximum permissible concentrations (MPC. Working conditions of locomotive teams remain most unfavorable as per risk factors. We detected that a priori occupation risk for locomotive teams was characterized with parameters varying from moderate to considerable ones. Occupational noise was determined as a priority risk factor making working conditions category a hazardous one and it corresponded to occupational morbidity structure. We detected that sensorineural hearing loss took a leading place in morbidity both in the branch in general and among locomotive team workers. We also clarified that such workers as engine drivers and their assistants (up to 43 % had the greatest specific weight among railway workers with occupational diseases; occupational morbidity among locomotive team workers amounted to 3.0 per 10,000 workers in 2015 while average morbidity among all railway workers amounted to only 1.32 per 10,000 workers. We revealed that occupational diseases were most frequently detected in workers aged 51–60 (51.9 % in 2014 who had worked under hazardous occupational factors influence for longer than 15 years. While there was an overall decreasing trend in occupa-tional morbidity in the branch in 2011–2015 from 1.68 to 1.32 per 10,000 workers, we detected a brunch peculiarity in the risk group, namely, an unsatisfactory trend for growing share of workers with occupational diseases aged 31–40 (from 2.6 % in 2011 to 12 % in 2014 and it requires special attention in terms of risk management.

Conditioning and Robustness of RNA Boltzmann Sampling under Thermodynamic Parameter Perturbations.

Science.gov (United States)

Rogers, Emily; Murrugarra, David; Heitsch, Christine

2017-07-25

Understanding how RNA secondary structure prediction methods depend on the underlying nearest-neighbor thermodynamic model remains a fundamental challenge in the field. Minimum free energy (MFE) predictions are known to be "ill conditioned" in that small changes to the thermodynamic model can result in significantly different optimal structures. Hence, the best practice is now to sample from the Boltzmann distribution, which generates a set of suboptimal structures. Although the structural signal of this Boltzmann sample is known to be robust to stochastic noise, the conditioning and robustness under thermodynamic perturbations have yet to be addressed. We present here a mathematically rigorous model for conditioning inspired by numerical analysis, and also a biologically inspired definition for robustness under thermodynamic perturbation. We demonstrate the strong correlation between conditioning and robustness and use its tight relationship to define quantitative thresholds for well versus ill conditioning. These resulting thresholds demonstrate that the majority of the sequences are at least sample robust, which verifies the assumption of sampling's improved conditioning over the MFE prediction. Furthermore, because we find no correlation between conditioning and MFE accuracy, the presence of both well- and ill-conditioned sequences indicates the continued need for both thermodynamic model refinements and alternate RNA structure prediction methods beyond the physics-based ones. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Behaviour of molten reactor fuels under accident conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xavier Swamikannu, A.; Mathews, C.K.

1980-01-01

The behaviour of molten reactor fuels under accident conditions has received considerable importance in recent times. The chemical processes that occur in the molten state among the fuel, the clad components and the concrete of the containment building under the conditions of a core melt down accident in oxide fuelled reactors have been reviewed with the purpose of identifying areas of developmental work required to be performed to assess and minimize the consequences of such an accident. This includes the computation and estimation of vapour pressure of various gaseous species over the fuel, the clad and the coolant, providing of sacrificial materials in the concrete in order to protect the containment building in order to prevent release of radioactive gases into the atmosphere and understanding the distribution and chemical state of fission products in the molten fuel in order to provide for the effective removal of their decay heats. (auth.)

Fluoride release from fluoride varnishes under acidic conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Lippert, F

2014-01-01

The aim was to investigate the in vitro fluoride release from fluoride varnishes under acidic conditions. Poly(methyl methacrylate) blocks (Perspex, n=3 per group) were painted with 80 ± 5 mg fluoride varnish (n=10) and placed into artificial saliva for 30 min. Then, blocks were placed into either 1% citric acid (pH 2.27) or 0.3% citric acid (pH 3.75) solutions (n=3 per solution and varnish) for 30 min with the solutions being replaced every 5 min. Saliva and acid solutions were analyzed for fluoride content. Data were analyzed using three-way ANOVA (varnish, solution, time). The three-way interaction was significant (p>0.0001). Fluoride release and release patterns varied considerably between varnishes. Fluoride release in saliva varied by a factor of more than 10 between varnishes. Some varnishes (CavityShield, Nupro, ProFluorid, Vanish) showed higher fluoride release in saliva than during the first 5 min of acid exposure, whereas other varnishes (Acclean, Enamel-Pro, MI Varnish, Vella) showed the opposite behavior. There was little difference between acidic solutions. Fluoride release from fluoride varnishes varies considerably and also depends on the dissolution medium. Bearing in mind the limitations of laboratory research, the consumption of acidic drinks after fluoride varnish application should be avoided to optimize the benefit/risk ratio.

Measurement of total risk of spontaneous abortion: the virtue of conditional risk estimation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Modvig, J; Schmidt, L; Damsgaard, M T

1990-01-01

The concepts, methods, and problems of measuring spontaneous abortion risk are reviewed. The problems touched on include the process of pregnancy verification, the changes in risk by gestational age and maternal age, and the presence of induced abortions. Methods used in studies of spontaneous...... abortion risk include biochemical assays as well as life table technique, although the latter appears in two different forms. The consequences of using either of these are discussed. It is concluded that no study design so far is appropriate for measuring the total risk of spontaneous abortion from early...... conception to the end of the 27th week. It is proposed that pregnancy may be considered to consist of two or three specific periods and that different study designs should concentrate on measuring the conditional risk within each period. A careful estimate using this principle leads to an estimate of total...

Heart Conditions and Pregnancy: Know the Risks

Science.gov (United States)

... function during the delivery. Your doctor might recommend scheduling a date to induce labor under controlled conditions ... of Privacy Practices Notice of Nondiscrimination Manage Cookies Advertising Mayo Clinic is a not-for-profit organization ...

LDA measurements under plasma conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lesinski, J.; Mizera-Lesinska, B.; Fanton, J.C.; Boulos, M.I.

1979-01-01

A study was made of the application of Laser Doppler Anemometry (LDA) for the measurement of the fluid and particle velocities under plasma conditions. The flow configuration, is that of a dc plasma jet called the principal jet, in which an alumina powder of a mean particle diameter of 115 μm and a standard deviation of 11.3 μm was injected using a secondary jet. The plasma jet immerged from a 7.1 mm ID nozzle while that of the secondary jet was 2 nm in diameter. The secondary jet was introduced at the nozzle level of the plasma jet directed 90 0 to its axis. Details of the nozzle and the gas flow system are shown in Figure 2

Prediction of fretting fatigue behavior under elastic-plastic conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shin, Ki Su

2009-01-01

Fretting fatigue generally leads to the degradation of the fatigue strength of a material due to cyclic micro-slip between two contacting materials. Fretting fatigue is regarded as an important issue in designing aerospace structures. While many studies have evaluated fretting fatigue behavior under elastic deformation conditions, few have focused on fretting fatigue behavior under elastic-plastic deformation conditions, especially the crack orientation and fatigue life prediction for Ti-6Al-4V. The primary goal of this study was to characterize the fretting fatigue crack initiation behavior in the presence of plasticity. Experimental tests were performed using pad configurations involving elastic-plastic deformations. To calculate stress distributions under elastic-plastic fretting fatigue conditions, FEA was also performed. Several parametric approaches were used to predict fretting fatigue life along with stress distribution resulting from FEA. However, those parameters using surface stresses were unable to establish an equivalence between elastic fretting fatigue data and elastic-plastic fretting fatigue data. Based on this observation, the critical distance methods, which are commonly used in notch analysis, were applied to the fretting fatigue problem. In conclusion, the effective strain range method when used in conjunction with the SMSSR parameter showed a good correlation of data points between the pad configurations involving elastic and elastic plastic deformations

Recovery of PMOSFET NBTI under different conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cao Yan-Rong; Yang Yi; Cao Cheng; He Wen-Long; Zheng Xue-Feng; Hao Yue; Ma Xiao-Hua

2015-01-01

Negative bias temperature instability (NBTI) has become a serious reliability issue, and the interface traps and oxide charges play an important role in the degradation process. In this paper, we study the recovery of NBTI systemically under different conditions in the P-type metal–oxide–semiconductor field effect transistor (PMOSFET), explain the various recovery phenomena, and find the possible processes of the recovery. (paper)

Studies on migration behavior of radionuclides under reducing conditions in JNC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kitamura, A.; Sato, H.

2002-01-01

Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute (JNC) has performed extensive researches and developments to investigate the geochemistry and radionuclide migration in buffer materials and geosphere. Experimental and modeling studies have been carried out related to the geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLW) as a link in the chair of a follow-up of the second progress report, which has explained in the technical feasibility of HLW geological disposal in Japan. In this paper, three experimental studies on solubility, sorption and diffusion of radionuclides under reducing conditions for assuring the reliability and for improving the quality of the databases are introduced. Solubility and sorption behavior of neptunium (Np) have been studied under reducing conditions in carbonate media. For the solubility study, thermodynamic equilibrium constants of carbonatohydroxo complexes of Np(IV) have been determined from a solubility measurement in alkaline solutions. For the sorption study, distribution coefficient (K d ) of Np onto smectite has been determined in weak alkaline solutions under reducing conditions in carbonate media. For the diffusion study, apparent diffusivity (D a ) of selenium (Se) in compacted bentonite have been determined under reducing conditions as a function of silica sand content and temperature

Low-dose radiation suppresses Pokemon expression under hypoxic conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Seung-Whan; Yu, Kweon; Shin, Kee-Sun; Kwon, Kisang; Hwang, Tae-Sik; Kwon, O-Yu

2014-01-01

Our previous data demonstrated that CoCl2-induced hypoxia controls endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-associated and other intracellular factors. One of them, the transcription factor Pokemon, was differentially regulated by low-dose radiation (LDR). There are limited data regarding how this transcription factor is involved in expression of the unfolded protein response (UPR) under hypoxic conditions. The purpose of this study was to obtain clues on how Pokemon is involved in the UPR. Pokemon was selected as a differentially expressed gene under hypoxic conditions; however, its regulation was clearly repressed by LDR. It was also demonstrated that both expression of ER chaperones and ER stress sensors were affected by hypoxic conditions, and the same results were obtained when cells in which Pokemon was up- or down-regulated were used. The current state of UPR and LDR research associated with the Pokemon pathway offers an important opportunity to understand the oncogenesis, senescence, and differentiation of cells, as well as to facilitate introduction of new therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals.

Proteins involved in flor yeast carbon metabolism under biofilm formation conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Moreno-García, Jaime; García-Martínez, Teresa; Moreno, Juan; Mauricio, Juan Carlos

2015-04-01

A lack of sugars during the production of biologically aged wines after fermentation of grape must causes flor yeasts to metabolize other carbon molecules formed during fermentation (ethanol and glycerol, mainly). In this work, a proteome analysis involving OFFGEL fractionation prior to LC/MS detection was used to elucidate the carbon metabolism of a flor yeast strain under biofilm formation conditions (BFC). The results were compared with those obtained under non-biofilm formation conditions (NBFC). Proteins associated to processes such as non-fermentable carbon uptake, the glyoxylate and TCA cycles, cellular respiration and inositol metabolism were detected at higher concentrations under BFC than under the reference conditions (NBFC). This study constitutes the first attempt at identifying the flor yeast proteins responsible for the peculiar sensory profile of biologically aged wines. A better metabolic knowledge of flor yeasts might facilitate the development of effective strategies for improved production of these special wines. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An empirical assessment of driver motivation and emotional states in perceived safety margins under varied driving conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yu; Kaber, David B

2013-01-01

Motivation models in driving behaviour postulate that driver motives and emotional states dictate risk tolerance under various traffic conditions. The present study used time and driver performance-based payment systems to manipulate motivation and risk-taking behaviour. Ten participants drove to a predefined location in a simulated driving environment. Traffic patterns (density and velocity) were manipulated to cause driver behaviour adjustments due to the need to conform with the social norms of the roadway. The driving environment complexity was investigated as a mediating factor in risk tolerance. Results revealed the performance-based payment system to closely relate to risk-taking behaviour as compared with the time-based payment system. Drivers conformed with social norms associated with specific traffic patterns. Higher roadway complexity led to a more conservative safety margins and speeds. This research contributes to the further development of motivational models of driver behaviour. This study provides empirical justification for two motivation factors in driver risk-taking decisions, including compliance with social norm and emotions triggered by incentives. Environment complexity was identified as a mediating factor in motivational behaviour model. This study also recommended safety margin measures sensitive to changes in driver risk tolerance.

Creep behavior of Zircaloy cladding under variable conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsuo, Y.

1989-01-01

Various creep tests of Zircaloy cladding tubes under variable conditions were conducted to investigate which hardening rule can be applicable for the creep behavior associated with condition changes. The results show that the strain-hardening rule is applicable in general when either the stress or temperature conditions change, provided that a certain amount of creep strain recovery is observed in case of stress drop. In stress reversal conditions, however, softening of the material was observed. Strain rate after stress reversal is much higher than that predicted by the strain-hardening rule. In this case, the modified strain-hardening model, considering a recoverable creep-hardening range together with the strain recovery, predicts the creep behavior well. The applicability of the model is ascertained through a verification test that includes stress reversal, strain recovery, stress changes, and temperature changes

Maximum vehicle cabin temperatures under different meteorological conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Grundstein, Andrew; Meentemeyer, Vernon; Dowd, John

2009-05-01

A variety of studies have documented the dangerously high temperatures that may occur within the passenger compartment (cabin) of cars under clear sky conditions, even at relatively low ambient air temperatures. Our study, however, is the first to examine cabin temperatures under variable weather conditions. It uses a unique maximum vehicle cabin temperature dataset in conjunction with directly comparable ambient air temperature, solar radiation, and cloud cover data collected from April through August 2007 in Athens, GA. Maximum cabin temperatures, ranging from 41-76°C, varied considerably depending on the weather conditions and the time of year. Clear days had the highest cabin temperatures, with average values of 68°C in the summer and 61°C in the spring. Cloudy days in both the spring and summer were on average approximately 10°C cooler. Our findings indicate that even on cloudy days with lower ambient air temperatures, vehicle cabin temperatures may reach deadly levels. Additionally, two predictive models of maximum daily vehicle cabin temperatures were developed using commonly available meteorological data. One model uses maximum ambient air temperature and average daily solar radiation while the other uses cloud cover percentage as a surrogate for solar radiation. From these models, two maximum vehicle cabin temperature indices were developed to assess the level of danger. The models and indices may be useful for forecasting hazardous conditions, promoting public awareness, and to estimate past cabin temperatures for use in forensic analyses.

GFC-Robust Risk Management Strategies under the Basel Accord

NARCIS (Netherlands)

M.J. McAleer (Michael); J.A. Jiménez-Martín (Juan-Ángel); T. Pérez-Amaral (Teodosio)

2010-01-01

textabstractA risk management strategy is proposed as being robust to the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) by selecting a Value-at-Risk (VaR) forecast that combines the forecasts of different VaR models. The robust forecast is based on the median of the point VaR forecasts of a set of conditional

Increased betulinic acid induced cytotoxicity and radiosensitivity in glioma cells under hypoxic conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bache, Matthias; Taubert, Helge; Vordermark, Dirk; Zschornak, Martin P; Passin, Sarina; Keßler, Jacqueline; Wichmann, Henri; Kappler, Matthias; Paschke, Reinhard; Kaluđerović, Goran N; Kommera, Harish

2011-01-01

Betulinic acid (BA) is a novel antineoplastic agent under evaluation for tumor therapy. Because of the selective cytotoxic effects of BA in tumor cells (including gliomas), the combination of this agent with conservative therapies (such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy) may be useful. Previously, the combination of BA with irradiation under hypoxic conditions had never been studied. In this study, the effects of 3 to 30 μM BA on cytotoxicity, migration, the protein expression of PARP, survivin and HIF-1α, as well as radiosensitivity under normoxic and hypoxic conditions were analyzed in the human malignant glioma cell lines U251MG and U343MG. Cytotoxicity and radiosensitivity were analyzed with clonogenic survival assays, migration was analyzed with Boyden chamber assays (or scratch assays) and protein expression was examined with Western blot analyses. Under normoxic conditions, a half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC 50 ) of 23 μM was observed in U251MG cells and 24 μM was observed in U343MG cells. Under hypoxic conditions, 10 μM or 15 μM of BA showed a significantly increased cytotoxicity in U251MG cells (p = 0.004 and p = 0.01, respectively) and U343MG cells (p < 0.05 and p = 0.01, respectively). The combination of BA with radiotherapy resulted in an additive effect in the U343MG cell line under normoxic and hypoxic conditions. Weak radiation enhancement was observed in U251MG cell line after treatment with BA under normoxic conditions. Furthermore, under hypoxic conditions, the incubation with BA resulted in increased radiation enhancement. The enhancement factor, at an irradiation dose of 15 Gy after treatment with 10 or 15 μM BA, was 2.20 (p = 0.02) and 4.50 (p = 0.03), respectively. Incubation with BA led to decreased cell migration, cleavage of PARP and decreased expression levels of survivin in both cell lines. Additionally, BA treatment resulted in a reduction of HIF-1α protein under hypoxic conditions. Our results suggest that BA is capable

The angular gyrus and visuospatial attention in decision-making under risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Studer, Bettina; Cen, Danlu; Walsh, Vincent

2014-12-01

Recent neuroimaging studies on decision-making under risk indicate that the angular gyrus (AG) is sensitive to the probability and variance of outcomes during choice. A separate body of research has established the AG as a key area in visual attention. The current study used repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in healthy volunteers to test whether the causal contribution of the AG to decision-making is independent of or linked to the guidance of visuospatial attention. A within-subject design compared decision making on a laboratory gambling task under three conditions: following rTMS to the AG, following rTMS to the premotor cortex (PMC, as an active control condition) and without TMS. The task presented two different trial types, 'visual' and 'auditory' trials, which entailed a high versus minimal demand for visuospatial attention, respectively. Our results showed a systematic effect of rTMS to the AG upon decision-making behavior in visual trials. Without TMS and following rTMS to the control region, decision latencies reflected the odds of winning; this relationship was disrupted by rTMS to the AG. In contrast, no significant effects of rTMS to the AG (or to the PMC) upon choice behavior in auditory trials were found. Thus, rTMS to the AG affected decision-making only in the task condition requiring visuospatial attention. The current findings suggest that the AG contributes to decision-making by guiding attention to relevant information about reward and punishment in the visual environment. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Hydrothermal liquefaction of cellulose to bio-oil under acidic, neutral and alkaline conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yin, Sudong; Tan, Zhongchao

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) at acidic, neutral and alkaline conditions. ► Bio-oil compositions varied with acidic, neutral and alkaline conditions. ► Reaction mechanisms varied with acidic, neutral and alkaline conditions. ► HTL should be classified to acidic, neutral and alkaline processes. -- Abstract: Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of biomass to bio-oil under alkaline or neutral conditions has been widely reported in literature. However, there has been limited data available in literature on comparing HTL of biomass to bio-oil under acidic, neutral, and alkaline in terms of chemical compositions and yields by using the same reaction conditions and reactor. Using cellulose as a feedstock we conducted the comparative studies for pH = 3, 7 and 14 at temperatures of 275–320 °C with reaction residence times of 0–30 min. Results showed that the chemical compositions of the bio-oils were different for acidic, neutral and alkaline conditions. Under acidic and neutral conditions, the main composition of HTL bio-oil was 5-(Hydroxymethyl)furfural (HMF). Under alkaline conditions, the main compounds became C 2–5 carboxylic acids. For bio-oil yields, it was observed that high temperatures and long residence times had negative effects, regardless of the pH levels. However, the corresponding reaction mechanisms are different. Under acidic conditions, the decrease in the bio-oil yields was mainly caused by polymerization of 5-HMF to solids. Under neutral conditions, the bio-oil yields decreased because 5-HMF was converted to both solid and gaseous products. Under alkaline conditions, the bio-oil decomposed to gases through the formation of short chain acids and aldehydes. Therefore, although they were all referred to as HTL bio-oil in literature, they were formed by different reaction pathways and had different properties due to their different chemical compositions. Given these differences, different strategies are recommended in this study to

Ecological risk assessment for the terrestrial ecosystem under chronic radioactive pollution - Ecological risk assessment for the biota on regional radioactive waste storage

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lavrentyeva, G.V.; Synzynys, B.I.; Shoshina, R.R.; Mirzeabasov, O.A. [Obninsk Institute for Nuclear Power Engineering, branch of the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, Department of Ecology, Studgorodok,1, 249040 Obninsk, Kaluga region (Russian Federation)

2014-07-01

Now the methods of ecological regulation of a radiation factor from risk assessment are developed poorly. The paper attempts to assess and forecast the terrestrial ecosystem conditions under chronic ionizing radiation by calculating the critical loads. The paper is aimed at developing a methodology to assess the ecological risk for a terrestrial ecosystem under chronic radioactive pollution in a biotope of a regional radioactive waste storage. Objects and Methods: Biotope monitoring of a radioactive waste storage makes clear that the radioecological situation in this territory is stipulated by technogenic {sup 90}Sr found in soil, ground water and biota. Terrestrial mollusks of a shrubby Snail type (Bradybaena fruticum) were chosen as reference species due to their activity to accumulate {sup 90}Sr in shells and the number of colony-forming soil units (CFU) as reference indices. The number of CFU was determined by inoculation of solid medium. Soil and mollusk samples have been collected at most representative sites identified in the previous studies. To assess {sup 90}Sr content in the samples collected, radiochemical separation was used with further radionuclide activity measurements by a 'BETA-01C' scintillation beta-ray spectrometer according to a standard procedure of {sup 90}Sr content assessment from beta-radiation of its daughter radionuclide {sup 90}Y. Ecological risk was calculated from analyzed critical loads using a 'dose-effect' dependence. Statistical data processing was realized with Excell 2007 and R software programs [R Development Core Team, 2010]. The software R was also used for GIS creation. Results and Discussion: A methodology of ecological risk assessment for the terrestrial ecosystem under chronic radioactive pollution of a biotope near a regional radioactive waste storage has been developed in terms of the critical environmental loads analyzed. It consists of five stages: determination of effect indicators and assessment

Hygiene and sanitation risk factors of diarrhoeal disease among under-five children in Ibadan, Nigeria.

Science.gov (United States)

Oloruntoba, Elizabeth Omoladun; Folarin, Taiwo Bukola; Ayede, Adejumoke Idowu

2014-12-01

Diarrhoea diseases are among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in under-five-children (U-5C) in Nigeria. Inadequate safe water, sanitation, and hygiene account for the disease burden. Cases of diarrhoea still occur in high proportion in the study area despite government-oriented interventions. To determine the hygiene and sanitation risk factors predisposing U-5C to diarrhoea in Ibadan, Nigeria. Two hundred and twenty pairs of children, matched on age, were recruited as cases and controls over a period of 5 months in Ibadan. Questionnaire and observation checklist were used to obtain information on hygiene practices from caregivers/mothers and sanitation conditions in the households of 30% of the consenting mothers/caregivers. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Caregivers/mothers' mean ages were 31.3 ±7.5 (cases) and 30.6 ±6.0(controls) years. The risk of diarrhoea was significantly higher among children whose mothers did not wash hands with soap before food preparation (OR=3.0, pHygiene and sanitation conditions within households were risk factors for diarrhoea. This study revealed the feasibility of developing and implementing an adequate model to establish intervention priorities in sanitation in Ibadan, Nigeria.

Study of Stand-Alone Microgrid under Condition of Faults on Distribution Line

Science.gov (United States)

Malla, S. G.; Bhende, C. N.

2014-10-01

The behavior of stand-alone microgrid is analyzed under the condition of faults on distribution feeders. During fault since battery is not able to maintain dc-link voltage within limit, the resistive dump load control is presented to do so. An inverter control is proposed to maintain balanced voltages at PCC under the unbalanced load condition and to reduce voltage unbalance factor (VUF) at load points. The proposed inverter control also has facility to protect itself from high fault current. Existing maximum power point tracker (MPPT) algorithm is modified to limit the speed of generator during fault. Extensive simulation results using MATLAB/SIMULINK established that the performance of the controllers is quite satisfactory under different fault conditions as well as unbalanced load conditions.

Establishment of Technical Collaboration basis between Korea and France for the development of severe accident assessment computer code under high burnup condition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, H. D.; Kim, D. H.; Park, S. Y.; Park, J. H.

2005-10-01

identify the new items to be interested in each party. The agreement (MOU) of the cooperation on the research concerning the severe accident under the high burn up condition was signed by both sides on June, 2005. Considering the main trend of the advancement of the degree of safety on NPP and AM (accident management) which are now in progress based on the concept of risk, it is necessary to participate in the international cooperative research program concerning the fission product release from the high burn up fuel, which consists of the essential part in evaluating the risk. Also, in order to avoid the high cost to operate the experimental facility and the limitation of treating the real nuclear materials, the participation of the international cooperative research program is the best way to perform this study. Finally, the severe accident analysis code that has the models for the high burn up and for the quench phenomena will be used for validating the EOP and for estimating the risk under severe accident condition. Also this newly developed severe accident analysis code with the capability of simulating the severe accident under the high burn up condition will contribute to the export of NPP abroad

Biological methane production under putative Enceladus-like conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Taubner, Ruth-Sophie; Pappenreiter, Patricia; Zwicker, Jennifer; Smrzka, Daniel; Pruckner, Christian; Kolar, Philipp; Bernacchi, Sébastien; Seifert, Arne H; Krajete, Alexander; Bach, Wolfgang; Peckmann, Jörn; Paulik, Christian; Firneis, Maria G; Schleper, Christa; Rittmann, Simon K-M R

2018-02-27

The detection of silica-rich dust particles, as an indication for ongoing hydrothermal activity, and the presence of water and organic molecules in the plume of Enceladus, have made Saturn's icy moon a hot spot in the search for potential extraterrestrial life. Methanogenic archaea are among the organisms that could potentially thrive under the predicted conditions on Enceladus, considering that both molecular hydrogen (H 2 ) and methane (CH 4 ) have been detected in the plume. Here we show that a methanogenic archaeon, Methanothermococcus okinawensis, can produce CH 4 under physicochemical conditions extrapolated for Enceladus. Up to 72% carbon dioxide to CH 4 conversion is reached at 50 bar in the presence of potential inhibitors. Furthermore, kinetic and thermodynamic computations of low-temperature serpentinization indicate that there may be sufficient H 2 gas production to serve as a substrate for CH 4 production on Enceladus. We conclude that some of the CH 4 detected in the plume of Enceladus might, in principle, be produced by methanogens.

Corrosion mechanisms of spent fuel under oxidizing conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Finn, P.A.; Finch, R.; Buck, E.; Bates, J.

1997-01-01

The release of 99 Tc can be used as a reliable marker for the extent of spent oxide fuel reaction under unsaturated high-drip-rate conditions at 90 degrees C. Evidence from leachate data and from scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM) examination of reacted fuel samples is presented for radionuclide release, potential reaction pathways, and the formation of alteration products. In the ATM-103 fuel, 0.03 of the total inventory of 99 Tc is released in 3.7 years under unsaturated and oxidizing conditions. Two reaction pathways that have been identified from SEM are (1) through-grain dissolution with subsequent formation of uranyl alteration products, and (2) grain-boundary dissolution. The major alteration product identified by x-ray diffraction (XRD) and SEM, is Na-boltwoodite, Na[(UO 2 )(SiO 3 OH)]lg-bullet H 2 O, which is formed from sodium and silicon in the water leachant

Fault Current Characteristics of the DFIG under Asymmetrical Fault Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fan Xiao

2015-09-01

Full Text Available During non-severe fault conditions, crowbar protection is not activated and the rotor windings of a doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG are excited by the AC/DC/AC converter. Meanwhile, under asymmetrical fault conditions, the electrical variables oscillate at twice the grid frequency in synchronous dq frame. In the engineering practice, notch filters are usually used to extract the positive and negative sequence components. In these cases, the dynamic response of a rotor-side converter (RSC and the notch filters have a large influence on the fault current characteristics of the DFIG. In this paper, the influence of the notch filters on the proportional integral (PI parameters is discussed and the simplified calculation models of the rotor current are established. Then, the dynamic performance of the stator flux linkage under asymmetrical fault conditions is also analyzed. Based on this, the fault characteristics of the stator current under asymmetrical fault conditions are studied and the corresponding analytical expressions of the stator fault current are obtained. Finally, digital simulation results validate the analytical results. The research results are helpful to meet the requirements of a practical short-circuit calculation and the construction of a relaying protection system for the power grid with penetration of DFIGs.

Neural Mechanisms Underlying Risk and Ambiguity Attitudes.

Science.gov (United States)

Blankenstein, Neeltje E; Peper, Jiska S; Crone, Eveline A; van Duijvenvoorde, Anna C K

2017-11-01

Individual differences in attitudes to risk (a taste for risk, known probabilities) and ambiguity (a tolerance for uncertainty, unknown probabilities) differentially influence risky decision-making. However, it is not well understood whether risk and ambiguity are coded differently within individuals. Here, we tested whether individual differences in risk and ambiguity attitudes were reflected in distinct neural correlates during choice and outcome processing of risky and ambiguous gambles. To these ends, we developed a neuroimaging task in which participants ( n = 50) chose between a sure gain and a gamble, which was either risky or ambiguous, and presented decision outcomes (gains, no gains). From a separate task in which the amount, probability, and ambiguity level were varied, we estimated individuals' risk and ambiguity attitudes. Although there was pronounced neural overlap between risky and ambiguous gambling in a network typically related to decision-making under uncertainty, relatively more risk-seeking attitudes were associated with increased activation in valuation regions of the brain (medial and lateral OFC), whereas relatively more ambiguity-seeking attitudes were related to temporal cortex activation. In addition, although striatum activation was observed during reward processing irrespective of a prior risky or ambiguous gamble, reward processing after an ambiguous gamble resulted in enhanced dorsomedial PFC activation, possibly functioning as a general signal of uncertainty coding. These findings suggest that different neural mechanisms reflect individual differences in risk and ambiguity attitudes and that risk and ambiguity may impact overt risk-taking behavior in different ways.

Structural Evaluation on HIC Transport Packaging under Accident Conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chung, Sung Hwan; Kim, Duck Hoi; Jung, Jin Se; Yang, Ke Hyung; Lee, Heung Young

2005-01-01

HIC transport packaging to transport a high integrity container(HIC) containing dry spent resin generated from nuclear power plants is to comply with the regulatory requirements of Korea and IAEA for Type B packaging due to the high radioactivity of the content, and to maintain the structural integrity under normal and accident conditions. It must withstand 9 m free drop impact onto an unyielding surface and 1 m drop impact onto a mild steel bar in a position causing maximum damage. For the conceptual design of a cylindrical HIC transport package, three dimensional dynamic structural analysis to ensure that the integrity of the package is maintained under all credible loads for 9 m free drop and 1 m puncture conditions were carried out using ABAQUS code.

Development and validation of a multilevel model for predicting workload under routine and nonroutine conditions in an air traffic management center.

Science.gov (United States)

Neal, Andrew; Hannah, Sam; Sanderson, Penelope; Bolland, Scott; Mooij, Martijn; Murphy, Sean

2014-03-01

The aim of this study was to develop a model capable of predicting variability in the mental workload experienced by frontline operators under routine and nonroutine conditions. Excess workload is a risk that needs to be managed in safety-critical industries. Predictive models are needed to manage this risk effectively yet are difficult to develop. Much of the difficulty stems from the fact that workload prediction is a multilevel problem. A multilevel workload model was developed in Study I with data collected from an en route air traffic management center. Dynamic density metrics were used to predict variability in workload within and between work units while controlling for variability among raters.The model was cross-validated in Studies 2 and 3 with the use of a high-fidelity simulator. Reported workload generally remained within the bounds of the 90% prediction interval in Studies 2 and 3. Workload crossed the upper bound of the prediction interval only under nonroutine conditions. Qualitative analyses suggest that nonroutine events caused workload to cross the upper bound of the prediction interval because the controllers could not manage their workload strategically. The model performed well under both routine and nonroutine conditions and over different patterns of workload variation. Workload prediction models can be used to support both strategic and tactical workload management. Strategic uses include the analysis of historical and projected workflows and the assessment of staffing needs.Tactical uses include the dynamic reallocation of resources to meet changes in demand.

Podocyte hypertrophy precedes apoptosis under experimental diabetic conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Sun Ha; Moon, Sung Jin; Paeng, Jisun; Kang, Hye-Young; Nam, Bo Young; Kim, Seonghun; Kim, Chan Ho; Lee, Mi Jung; Oh, Hyung Jung; Park, Jung Tak; Han, Seung Hyeok; Yoo, Tae-Hyun; Kang, Shin-Wook

2015-08-01

Podocyte hypertrophy and apoptosis are two hallmarks of diabetic glomeruli, but the sequence in which these processes occur remains a matter of debate. Here we investigated the effects of inhibiting hypertrophy on apoptosis, and vice versa, in both podocytes and glomeruli, under diabetic conditions. Hypertrophy and apoptosis were inhibited using an epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor (PKI 166) and a pan-caspase inhibitor (zAsp-DCB), respectively. We observed significant increases in the protein expression of p27, p21, phospho-eukaryotic elongation factor 4E-binding protein 1, and phospho-p70 S6 ribosomal protein kinase, in both cultured podocytes exposed to high-glucose (HG) medium, and streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus (DM) rat glomeruli. These increases were significantly inhibited by PKI 166, but not by zAsp-DCB. In addition, the amount of protein per cell, the relative cell size, and the glomerular volume were all significantly increased under diabetic conditions, and these changes were also blocked by treatment with PKI 166, but not zAsp-DCB. Increased protein expression of cleaved caspase-3 and cleaved poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase, together with increased Bax/Bcl-2 ratios, were also observed in HG-stimulated podocytes and DM glomeruli. Treatment with either zAsp-DCB or PKI 166 resulted in a significant attenuation of these effects. Both PKI 166 and zAsp-DCB also inhibited the increase in number of apoptotic cells, as assessed by Hoechst 33342 staining and TUNEL assay. Under diabetic conditions, inhibition of podocyte hypertrophy results in attenuated apoptosis, whereas blocking apoptosis has no effect on podocyte hypertrophy, suggesting that podocyte hypertrophy precedes apoptosis.

Soil susceptibility to compaction under use conditions in southern Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael Mazurana

Full Text Available ABSTRACT The degree of soil compaction is intensified by its inadequate management, compaction being variable depending on soil type since even under identical management conditions, different types have different abilities to withstand load. The objective of this study was to evaluate the susceptibility to compaction of different classes of soils under no-tillage (NT croping system compared to the original condition. Thus, i soils with the same source material have distinct resistance to compression with increased NT adoption time; ii the most sensitive indicators of this change are the ratios mass:volume and volume:volume and; iii there is a relationship between resistance and compaction susceptibility with the amount and type of oxide. Soil samples were collected in areas under NT and under natural condition in order to assess the impact imposed by the NT on the attributes density and porosity, precompression stress and compressibility index and relate them to the oxide type of, and content in, the soils under study. The results show that the density and macroporosity were those most affected by the NT agricultural use, regardless of soil type, that is, its dynamic is related more to soil use and less to mineralogical characteristics. The soil resistance and compaction susceptibility were higher in soil developed in basalt, followed by those developed in sandstone and granite. Both the organic matter content and type and concentration of iron oxides were related to the soil resistance and susceptibility to compaction.

A simple heat transfer model for a heat flux plate under transient conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ryan, L.; Dale, J.D.

1985-01-01

Heat flux plates are used for measuring rates of heat transfer through surfaces under steady state and transient conditions. Their usual construction is to have a resistive layer bounded by thermopiles and an exterior layer for protection. If properly designed and constructed a linear relationship between the thermopile generated voltage and heat flux results and calibration under steady state conditions is straight forward. Under transient conditions however the voltage output from a heat flux plate cannot instantaneously follow the heat flux because of the thermal capacitance of the plate and the resulting time lag. In order to properly interpret the output of a heat flux plate used under transient conditions a simple heat transfer model was constructed and tested. (author)

Laboratory experiments for understanding mechanical properties of fractured granite under supercritical conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Kitamura, M.; Takahashi, M.; Takagi, K.; Hirano, N.; Tsuchiya, N.

2017-12-01

To extract geothermal energy effectively and safely from magma and/or adjacent hot rock, we need to tackle many issues which require new technology development, such as a technique to control a risk from induced-earthquakes. On a development of induced-earthquake mitigation technology, it is required to understand roles of factors on occurrences of the induced-earthquake (e.g., strength, crack density, and fluid-rock reaction) and their intercorrelations (e.g., Asanuma et al., 2012). Our purpose of this series of experiments is to clarify a relationship between the rock strength and the crack density under supercritical conditions. We conducted triaxial deformation test on intact granite rock strength under high-temperature (250 - 750°C), high-pressure (104 MPa) condition at a constant load velocity (0.1 μm/sec) using a gas-rig at AIST. We used Oshima granite, which has initially Young's modulus increased with decreasing the temperature from 32.3 GPa at 750°C to 57.4 GPa at 250°C. At 400 °C, the stress drop accelerated the deformation with 98 times faster velocity than that at load-point. In contrast, at 650°C and 750°C, the velocity during stress drop kept the same order of the load-point velocity. Therefore, the deformation mechanism may start to be changed from brittle to ductile when the temperature exceeds 650°C. Highly dense cracked granite specimens were formed by a rapid decompression test (RDT) using an autoclave settled at Tohoku University (Hirano et al., 2016JpGU), caused by a reduction of fluid pressure within 1-2 sec from vapor/supercritical state (10 - 48 MPa, 550 °C) to ambient pressure. The specimens after RDT show numerous microcracks on X-ray CT images. The RDT imposed the porosity increasing towards 3.75 % and Vp and Vs decreasing towards 1.37±0.52 km/s and 0.97±0.25 km/s. The Poisson's ratio shows the negative values in dry and 0.5 in wet. In the meeting, we will present results of triaxial deformation test on such cracked granites

Pseudomonas putida response in membrane bioreactors under salicylic acid-induced stress conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Collado, Sergio; Rosas, Irene; González, Elena; Gutierrez-Lavin, Antonio; Diaz, Mario, E-mail: mariodiaz@uniovi.es

2014-02-01

Highlights: • MBR under feed-induced stress conditions: starvation and changing feeding conditions. • High capacity of MBR to withstand high variations in feed loads. • Slow biofilm formation under starvation conditions during the first days. • Observed growth of P. putida for substrate to microorganism ratio higher than 0.6 g/g. • Maximum specific growth rate and growth yield values of around 37.5 h{sup −1} and 0.5 g/g. - Abstract: Starvation and changing feeding conditions are frequently characteristics of wastewater treatment plants. They are typical causes of unsteady-state operation of biological systems and provoke cellular stress. The response of a membrane bioreactor functioning under feed-induced stress conditions is studied here. In order to simplify and considerably amplify the response to stress and to obtain a reference model, a pure culture of Pseudomonas putida was selected instead of an activated sludge and a sole substrate (salicylic acid) was employed. The system degraded salicylic acid at 100–1100 mg/L with a high level of efficiency, showed rapid acclimation without substrate or product inhibition phenomena and good stability in response to unsteady states caused by feed variations. Under starvation conditions, specific degradation rates of around 15 mg/g h were achieved during the adaptation of the biomass to the new conditions and no biofilm formation was observed during the first days of experimentation using an initial substrate to microorganisms ratio lower than 0.1. When substrate was added to the reactor as pulses resulting in rapidly changing concentrations, P. putida growth was observed only for substrate to microorganism ratios higher than 0.6, with a maximum Y{sub X/S} of 0.5 g/g. Biofilm development under changing feeding conditions was fast, biomass detachment only being significant for biomass concentrations on the membrane surface that were higher than 16 g/m{sup 2}.

Pseudomonas putida response in membrane bioreactors under salicylic acid-induced stress conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Collado, Sergio; Rosas, Irene; González, Elena; Gutierrez-Lavin, Antonio; Diaz, Mario

2014-01-01

Highlights: • MBR under feed-induced stress conditions: starvation and changing feeding conditions. • High capacity of MBR to withstand high variations in feed loads. • Slow biofilm formation under starvation conditions during the first days. • Observed growth of P. putida for substrate to microorganism ratio higher than 0.6 g/g. • Maximum specific growth rate and growth yield values of around 37.5 h −1 and 0.5 g/g. - Abstract: Starvation and changing feeding conditions are frequently characteristics of wastewater treatment plants. They are typical causes of unsteady-state operation of biological systems and provoke cellular stress. The response of a membrane bioreactor functioning under feed-induced stress conditions is studied here. In order to simplify and considerably amplify the response to stress and to obtain a reference model, a pure culture of Pseudomonas putida was selected instead of an activated sludge and a sole substrate (salicylic acid) was employed. The system degraded salicylic acid at 100–1100 mg/L with a high level of efficiency, showed rapid acclimation without substrate or product inhibition phenomena and good stability in response to unsteady states caused by feed variations. Under starvation conditions, specific degradation rates of around 15 mg/g h were achieved during the adaptation of the biomass to the new conditions and no biofilm formation was observed during the first days of experimentation using an initial substrate to microorganisms ratio lower than 0.1. When substrate was added to the reactor as pulses resulting in rapidly changing concentrations, P. putida growth was observed only for substrate to microorganism ratios higher than 0.6, with a maximum Y X/S of 0.5 g/g. Biofilm development under changing feeding conditions was fast, biomass detachment only being significant for biomass concentrations on the membrane surface that were higher than 16 g/m 2

Assessing exposure risks for aquatic organisms posed by Tamiflu use under seasonal influenza and pandemic conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Wei-Yu; Lin, Chia-Jung; Liao, Chung-Min

2014-01-01

Environmental pollution by anti-influenza drugs is increasingly recognized as a threat to aquatic environments. However, little is known about empirical data on risk effects posed by environmentally relevant concentrations of anti-influenza drug based on recently published ecotoxicological researches in Taiwan. Here we linked ecotoxicology models with an epidemiological scheme to assess exposure risks of aquatic organisms and environmental hazards posed by antiviral oseltamivir (Tamiflu) use in Taiwan. Built on published bioassays, we used probabilistic risk assessment model to estimate potential threats of environmentally relevant hazards on algae, daphnid, and zerbrafish. We found that Tamiflu use was unlikely to pose a significant chronic environmental risk to daphnia and zebrafish during seasonal influenza. However, the chronic environmental risk posed by Tamiflu use during pandemic was alarming. We conclude that no significant risk to algal growth was found during seasonal influenza and high pandemic Tamiflu use. -- Highlights: • Environmentally relevant concentrations of anti-influenza drug have ecotoxicologically important effects. • Tamiflu is unlikely to pose a significant chronic environmental risk during seasonal influenza. • Chronic environmental risk posed by Tamiflu during pandemic is alarming. • Tertiary process in sewage treatment plants is crucial in mitigating Tamiflu exposure risk. -- A probabilistic framework can be used for assessing exposure risks posed by environmentally relevant concentrations of anti-influenza drug in aquatic ecosystems

Attractor of Beam Equation with Structural Damping under Nonlinear Boundary Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Danxia Wang

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Simultaneously, considering the viscous effect of material, damping of medium, and rotational inertia, we study a kind of more general Kirchhoff-type extensible beam equation utt-uxxtt+uxxxx-σ(∫0l‍(ux2dxuxx-ϕ(∫0l‍(ux2dxuxxt=q(x, in  [0,L]×R+ with the structural damping and the rotational inertia term. Little attention is paid to the longtime behavior of the beam equation under nonlinear boundary conditions. In this paper, under nonlinear boundary conditions, we prove not only the existence and uniqueness of global solutions by prior estimates combined with some inequality skills, but also the existence of a global attractor by the existence of an absorbing set and asymptotic compactness of corresponding solution semigroup. In addition, the same results also can be proved under the other nonlinear boundary conditions.

Relationship between fumonisin production and FUM gene expression in Fusarium verticillioides under different environmental conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Fanelli, Francesca; Iversen, Anita; Logrieco, Antonio F; Mulè, Giuseppina

2013-01-01

Fusarium verticillioides is the main source of fumonisins, a group of mycotoxins that can contaminate maize-based food and feed and cause diseases in humans and animals. The study of the effect of different environmental conditions on toxin production should provide information that can be used to develop strategies to minimize the risk. This study analysed the effect of temperature (15°C-35°C), water activity (a(w): 0.999-0.93), salinity (0-125 g l(-1) NaCl) and pH (5-8) on the growth and production of fumonisins B(1) (FB1), B(2) (FB2) and B(3) (FB3) and the expression of FUM1 and FUM21 in F. verticillioides. The highest growth rate was measured at 25°C, a(w) of 0.998-0.99 and 0-25 g l(-1) of NaCl. Optimal conditions for fumonisin production were 30°C, a(w) of 0.99, 25 g l(-1) of NaCl and pH 5; nevertheless, the strain showed a good adaptability and was able to produce moderate levels of fumonisins under a wide range of conditions. Gene expression mirrored fumonisin production profile under all conditions with the exception of temperature: FUM1 and FUM21 expression was highest at 15°C, while maximum fumonisin production was at 30°C. These data indicate that a post-transcriptional regulation mechanism could account for the different optimal temperatures for FUM gene expression and fumonisin production.

Nitric Oxide is Required for Homeostasis of Oxygen and Reactive Oxygen Species in Barley Roots under Aerobic Conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gupta, Kapuganti J; Hebelstrup, Kim; Kruger, Nicholas J

2014-01-01

Oxygen, the terminal electron acceptor for mitochondrial electron transport, is vital for plants because of its role in the production of ATP by oxidative phosphorylation. While photosynthetic oxygen production contributes to the oxygen supply in leaves, reducing the risk of oxygen limitation of ...... electron transport chain (Gupta et al., 2011). Thus, NO could influence oxygen consumption under normal aerobic conditions in roots, and it is this specific function that is assessed here.......Oxygen, the terminal electron acceptor for mitochondrial electron transport, is vital for plants because of its role in the production of ATP by oxidative phosphorylation. While photosynthetic oxygen production contributes to the oxygen supply in leaves, reducing the risk of oxygen limitation...

Detoxification of wood preserving waste under ambient, enhanced and chemical pretreatment conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hong, M.S.; Brown, K.W.; Dale, B.E.; Donnelly, K.C.; He, L.Y.; Markiewicz, K.V. [Texas A and M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)

1994-12-31

Detoxification of pentachlorophenol-containing wood preserving waste was monitored under ambient, enhanced and chemical pretreatment conditions for genotoxicity and parent compound removal. Samples were collected throughout the treatment periods and sequentially extracted with dichloromethane and methanol with the Tecator Soxtec apparatus. The organic extracts were analyzed on GC/ECD and GC/MS. The extract mutagenic and genotoxic potentials were evaluated with and without metabolic activation with the Salmonella Microsomal and E. coli Prophage Induction assays. The Salmonella mutagenic responses of extracts from Weswood soil amended with wood preserving waste and treated under ambient conditions were 2.0, 34.6 and 2.4 times greater than the solvent control on days 0, 540 and 1,200 respectively. Organic extracts of soil amended with wood preserving waste and treated under enhanced conditions in a solid-phase rotating drum bioreactor had mutagenic potentials of 3.4, 4.9 and 3.5 on days 0, 14 and 30, respectively. Extracts from wood preserving waste sludge treated with potassium polyethylene glycol were shown to have mutagenic potentials of 2.8, 6.1 and 3.8 at 0, 10 and 30 minutes. The results indicate that the initial products of the wood preserving waste detoxification under all treatment conditions appear to have greater genotoxic potentials than the starting material. The results also suggest that a more rapid detoxification occurs under enhanced and chemical pretreatment conditions.

Spatial memory enhances the evacuation efficiency of virtual pedestrians under poor visibility condition

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Yi; Lee, Eric Wai Ming; Shi, Meng; Kwok Kit Yuen, Richard

2018-03-01

Spatial memory is a critical navigation support tool for disoriented evacuees during evacuation under adverse environmental conditions such as dark or smoky conditions. Owing to the complexity of memory, it is challenging to understand the effect of spatial memory on pedestrian evacuation quantitatively. In this study, we propose a simple method to quantitatively represent the evacueeʼs spatial memory about the emergency exit, model the evacuation of pedestrians under the guidance of the spatial memory, and investigate the effect of the evacueeʼs spatial memory on the evacuation from theoretical and physical perspectives. The result shows that (i) a good memory can significantly assist the evacuation of pedestrians under poor visibility conditions, and the evacuation can always succeed when the degree of the memory exceeds a threshold (\\varphi > 0.5); (ii) the effect of memory is superior to that of “follow-the-crowd” under the same environmental conditions; (iii) in the case of multiple exits, the difference in the degree of the memory between evacuees has a significant effect (the greater the difference, the faster the evacuation) for the evacuation under poor visibility conditions. Our study provides a new quantitative insight into the effect of spatial memory on crowd evacuation under poor visibility conditions. Project supported by the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Grant No. 11203615).

Decision-Making Under Risk: Integrating Perspectives From Biology, Economics, and Psychology.

Science.gov (United States)

Mishra, Sandeep

2014-08-01

Decision-making under risk has been variably characterized and examined in many different disciplines. However, interdisciplinary integration has not been forthcoming. Classic theories of decision-making have not been amply revised in light of greater empirical data on actual patterns of decision-making behavior. Furthermore, the meta-theoretical framework of evolution by natural selection has been largely ignored in theories of decision-making under risk in the human behavioral sciences. In this review, I critically examine four of the most influential theories of decision-making from economics, psychology, and biology: expected utility theory, prospect theory, risk-sensitivity theory, and heuristic approaches. I focus especially on risk-sensitivity theory, which offers a framework for understanding decision-making under risk that explicitly involves evolutionary considerations. I also review robust empirical evidence for individual differences and environmental/situational factors that predict actual risky decision-making that any general theory must account for. Finally, I offer steps toward integrating various theoretical perspectives and empirical findings on risky decision-making. © 2014 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

First report of the infection of insecticide-resistant malaria vector mosquitoes with an entomopathogenic fungus under field conditions

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Background Insecticide-resistant mosquitoes are compromising the ability of current mosquito control tools to control malaria vectors. A proposed new approach for mosquito control is to use entomopathogenic fungi. These fungi have been shown to be lethal to both insecticide-susceptible and insecticide-resistant mosquitoes under laboratory conditions. The goal of this study was to see whether entomopathogenic fungi could be used to infect insecticide-resistant malaria vectors under field conditions, and to see whether the virulence and viability of the fungal conidia decreased after exposure to ambient African field conditions. Methods This study used the fungus Beauveria bassiana to infect the insecticide-resistant malaria vector Anopheles gambiae s.s (Diptera: Culicidae) VKPER laboratory colony strain. Fungal conidia were applied to polyester netting and kept under West African field conditions for varying periods of time. The virulence of the fungal-treated netting was tested 1, 3 and 5 days after net application by exposing An. gambiae s.s. VKPER mosquitoes in WHO cone bioassays carried out under field conditions. In addition, the viability of B. bassiana conidia was measured after up to 20 days exposure to field conditions. Results The results show that B. bassiana infection caused significantly increased mortality with the daily risk of dying being increased by 2.5× for the fungus-exposed mosquitoes compared to the control mosquitoes. However, the virulence of the B. bassiana conidia decreased with increasing time spent exposed to the field conditions, the older the treatment on the net, the lower the fungus-induced mortality rate. This is likely to be due to the climate because laboratory trials found no such decline within the same trial time period. Conidial viability also decreased with increasing exposure to the net and natural abiotic environmental conditions. After 20 days field exposure the conidial viability was 30%, but the viability of control

Study on application and performance of OPPC under ice-phased condition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

An Yi

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The optical fiber composite overhead line (OPPC combines electricity transmission and information transmission, is used increasingly widely in the electric power system, further broadening the application area of our country’s special cable in the meantime. In heavy ice-phased regions, the designing parameters and technical requirements should be of higher standards, or it will directly affect the safety and stability of electric communication system’s operation. Therefore, OPPC under ice condition performance changes should cause enough attention. This article proposes simulation test of OPPC under ice-cladding condition, basing on which the mechanical properties and light transmission performance were calculated and analyzed. Then it comes to a conclusion that the ice-cladding has a variety of impact on OPPC in the stress and strain of fiber optic cable, optical transmission performance, residual RTS and other related elements. The test results show that the corresponding tension values under ice thickness would change and should be taken seriously into consideration when discussing the application of OPPC line under ice-phased condition.

Graphite Based Electrode for ECG Monitoring: Evaluation under Freshwater and Saltwater Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tharoeun Thap

2016-04-01

Full Text Available We proposed new electrodes that are applicable for electrocardiogram (ECG monitoring under freshwater- and saltwater-immersion conditions. Our proposed electrodes are made of graphite pencil lead (GPL, a general-purpose writing pencil. We have fabricated two types of electrode: a pencil lead solid type (PLS electrode and a pencil lead powder type (PLP electrode. In order to assess the qualities of the PLS and PLP electrodes, we compared their performance with that of a commercial Ag/AgCl electrode, under a total of seven different conditions: dry, freshwater immersion with/without movement, post-freshwater wet condition, saltwater immersion with/without movement, and post-saltwater wet condition. In both dry and post-freshwater wet conditions, all ECG-recorded PQRST waves were clearly discernible, with all types of electrodes, Ag/AgCl, PLS, and PLP. On the other hand, under the freshwater- and saltwater-immersion conditions with/without movement, as well as post-saltwater wet conditions, we found that the proposed PLS and PLP electrodes provided better ECG waveform quality, with significant statistical differences compared with the quality provided by Ag/AgCl electrodes.

Which key properties controls the preferential transport in the vadose zone under transient hydrological conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Groh, J.; Vanderborght, J.; Puetz, T.; Gerke, H. H.; Rupp, H.; Wollschlaeger, U.; Stumpp, C.; Priesack, E.; Vereecken, H.

2015-12-01

Understanding water flow and solute transport in the unsaturated zone is of great importance for an appropriate land use management strategy. The quantification and prediction of water and solute fluxes through the vadose zone can help to improve management practices in order to limit potential risk on our fresh water resources. Water related solute transport and residence time is strongly affected by preferential flow paths in the soil. Water flow in soils depends on soil properties and site factors (climate or experiment conditions, land use) and are therefore important factors to understand preferential solute transport in the unsaturated zone. However our understanding and knowledge of which on-site properties or conditions define and enhance preferential flow and transport is still poor and mostly limited onto laboratory experimental conditions (small column length and steady state boundary conditions). Within the TERENO SOILCan lysimeter network, which was designed to study the effects of climate change on soil functions, a bromide tracer was applied on 62 lysimeter at eight different test sites between Dec. 2013 and Jan. 2014. The TERENO SOILCan infrastructure offers the unique possibility to study the occurrence of preferential flow and transport of various soil types under different natural transient hydrological conditions and land use (crop, bare and grassland) at eight TERENO SOILCan observatories. Working with lysimeter replicates at each observatory allows defining the spatial variability of preferential transport and flow. Additionally lysimeters in the network were transferred within and between observatories in order to subject them to different rainfall and temperature regimes and enable us to relate the soil type susceptibility of preferential flow and transport not only to site specific physical and land use properties, but also to different transient boundary conditions. Comparison and statistical analysis between preferential flow indicators 5

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis and rational choice under risk or uncertainty.

Science.gov (United States)

Zuradzki, Tomasz

2014-11-01

In this paper I present an argument in favour of a parental duty to use preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). I argue that if embryos created in vitro were able to decide for themselves in a rational manner, they would sometimes choose PGD as a method of selection. Couples, therefore, should respect their hypothetical choices on a principle similar to that of patient autonomy. My thesis shows that no matter which moral doctrine couples subscribe to, they ought to conduct the PGD procedure in the situations when it is impossible to implant all of the created embryos and if there is a significant risk for giving birth to a child with a serious condition. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Comparison of wavefront aberrations under cycloplegic, scotopic and photopic conditions using WaveScan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rong Fan

2012-04-01

Full Text Available PURPOSE: To evaluate the differences of wavefront aberrations under cycloplegic, scotopic and photopic conditions. METHODS: A total of 174 eyes of 105 patients were measured using the wavefront sensor (WaveScan® 3.62 under different pupil conditions: cycloplegic 8.58 ± 0.54 mm (6.4 mm - 9.5 mm, scotopic 7.53 ± 0.69 mm (5.7 mm - 9.1 mm and photopic 6.08 ± 1.14 mm (4.1 mm - 8.8 mm. The pupil diameter, standard Zernike coefficients, root mean square of higher-order aberrations and dominant aberrations were compared between cycloplegic and scotopic conditions, and between scotopic and photopic conditions. RESULTS: The pupil diameter was 7.53 ± 0.69 mm under the scotopic condition, which reached the requirement of about 6.5 mm optical zone design in the wavefront-guided surgery and prevented measurement error due to the pupil centroid shift caused by mydriatics. Pharmacological pupil dilation induced increase of standard Zernike coefficients Z3-3, Z4(0 and Z5-5. The higher-order aberrations, third-order aberration, fourth-order aberration, fifth-order aberration, sixth-order aberration, and spherical aberration increased statistically significantly, compared to the scotopic condition (P<0.010. When the scotopic condition shifted to the photopic condition, the standard Zernike coefficients Z4(0, Z4², Z6-4, Z6-2, Z6² decreased and all the higher-order aberrations decreased statistically significantly (P<0.010, demonstrating that accommodative miosis can significantly improve vision under the photopic condition. Under the three conditions, the vertical coma aberration appears the most frequently within the dominant aberrations without significant effect by pupil size variance, and the proportion of spherical aberrations decreased with the decrease of the pupil size. CONCLUSIONS: The wavefront aberrations are significantly different under cycloplegic, scotopic and photopic conditions. Using the wavefront sensor (VISX WaveScan to measure scotopic

N balance of different N application rate of winter wheat under water-saving condition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Shijuan; Zhu Yeping; Sun Kaimeng; E Yue

2003-01-01

N uptake and N balance of different N rate applied to wheat under water-saving condition were investigated with 15 N tracer technique and the dynamic N uptake of economic N treatment under two irrigation conditions was compared. The results showed that (1) compared with conventional n treatment, the N loss of economic N treatment reduced while NUE and N residue in soil improved under water-saving condition; (2) Use efficiency of fertilizer applied as basal fertilizer was higher than that as top-dressing fertilizer under water-saving condition; (3) The fertilizer N residue rate was from 29% to 41%, and 60% of N residue, which distributed in 1 m depth soil concentrated in 0-20 cm surface layer; (4) In whole growing stage of wheat, fertilizer N hadn't leach to 130 cm depth; (5) NUE of economic N treatment under conventional irrigation decreased by 16.6% compared with the same n treatment under water-saving condition

Conditions for the Occurrence of Slaking and Other Disaggregation Processes under Rainfall

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Frédéric Darboux

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Under rainfall conditions, aggregates may suffer breakdown by different mechanisms. Slaking is a very efficient breakdown mechanism. However, its occurrence under rainfall conditions has not been demonstrated. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the occurrence of slaking under rain. Two soils with silt loam (SL and clay loam (CL textures were analyzed. Two classes of aggregates were utilized: 1–3 mm and 3–5 mm. The aggregates were submitted to stability tests and to high intensity (90 mm·h−1 and low intensity (28 mm·h−1 rainfalls, and different kinetic energy impacts (large and small raindrops using a rainfall simulator. The fragment size distributions were determined both after the stability tests and rainfall simulations, with the calculation of the mean weighted diameter (MWD. After the stability tests the SL presented smaller MWDs for all stability tests when compared to the CL. In both soils the lowest MWD was obtained using the fast wetting test, showing they were sensitive to slaking. For both soils and the two aggregate classes evaluated, the MWDs were recorded from the early beginning of the rainfall event under the four rainfall conditions. The occurrence of slaking in the evaluated soils was not verified under the simulated rainfall conditions studied. The early disaggregation was strongly related to the cumulative kinetic energy, advocating for the occurrence of mechanical breakdown. Because slaking requires a very high wetting rate on initially dry aggregates, it seems unlikely to occur under field conditions, except perhaps for furrow irrigation.

Behaviour of French electrical cables under fire conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bertrand, R.; Chaussard, M.; Gonzalez, R.; Lacoue, J.; Mattei, J.M.; Such, J.M

2001-12-01

A fire Probabilistic Safety Assessment - called fire PSA - is being carried out by the French Institute of Nuclear Safety and Protection (IPSN) to be used in the framework of the safety assessment of operating 900 MWe PWRs. The aim of this study is to evaluate the core damage conditional probability which could result from a fire. A fire can induce unavailability of safety equipment notably damaging electrical cables that are a significant risk contributor. The purpose of this communication is to present the electrical cable fire tests carried out by IPSN to identify the failure modes and to determine the cable damage criteria. Moreover, are indicated the impact of each kind of cable failure mode and the methodology used to estimate the conditional probability of a failure mode when cable damage occurred. (authors)

Transient heat transfer into superfluid helium under confined conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Filippov, Yu.P.; Miklyaev, V.M.; Sergeev, I.A.

1988-01-01

Transient thermal processes at solid-HeII interface at input of step pulse of heat load was investigated. Particular attention is given to the study of influence of geometry of experimental specimen upon the heat transfer dynamics. Abrupt breakdown of highly efficient transfer modes caused by the developmet of superfluid turbulence under confined condition is revealed, and accompanying temperature shift is registered. Some characteristic parameters are selected, their dependence on experimental conditions is established

Transcriptome profiling of tobacco under water deficit conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roel C. Rabara

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Drought is one of the limiting environmental factors that affect crop production. Understanding the molecular basis of how plants respond to this water deficit stress is key to developing drought tolerant crops. In this study we generated time course-based transcriptome profiles of tobacco plants under water deficit conditions using microarray technology. In this paper, we describe in detail the experimental procedures and analyses performed in our study. The data set we generated (available in the NCBI/GEO database under GSE67434 has been analysed to identify genes that are involved in the regulation of tobacco's responses to drought.

Modelling and Control of Ionic Electroactive Polymer Actuators under Varying Humidity Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Sunjai Nakshatharan

2018-02-01

Full Text Available In this work, we address the problem of position control of ionic electroactive polymer soft actuators under varying relative humidity conditions. The impact of humidity on the actuation performance of ionic actuators is studied through frequency response and impedance spectroscopy analysis. Considering the uncertain performance of the actuator under varying humidity conditions, an adaptable model using the neural network method is developed. The model uses relative humidity magnitude as one of the model parameters, making it robust to different environmental conditions. Utilizing the model, a closed-loop controller based on the model predictive controller is developed for position control of the actuator. The developed model and controller are experimentally verified and found to be capable of predicting and controlling the actuators with excellent tracking accuracy under relative humidity conditions varying in the range of 10–90%.

The Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 Fluxome under Various OxygenConditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tang, Yinjie J.; Hwang, Judy S.; Wemmer, David E.; Keasling, Jay D.

2006-03-17

The central metabolic fluxes of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1were examined under carbon-limited (aerobic) and oxygen-limited(micro-aerobic) chemostat conditions using 13C labeled lactate as thesole carbon source. The carbon labeling patterns of key amino acids inbiomass were probed using both GC-MS and 13C-NMR. Based on the genomeannotation, a metabolic pathway model was constructed to quantify thecentral metabolic flux distributions. The model showed that thetricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle is the major carbon metabolism route underboth conditions. The Entner-Doudoroff and pentose phosphate pathways weremainly utilized for biomass synthesis (flux below 5 percent of thelactate uptake rate). The anapleurotic reactions (pyruvate to malate andoxaloacetate to phosphoenolpyruvate) and the glyoxylate shunt wereactive. Under carbon-limited conditions, a substantial amount of carbonwas oxidized via the highly reversible serine metabolic pathway. Fluxesthrough the TCA cycle were less whereas acetate production was more underoxygen limitation than under carbon limitation. Although fluxdistributions under aerobic, micro-aerobic, and shake-flask cultureconditions were dramatically different, the relative flux ratios of thecentral metabolic reactions did not vary significantly. Hence, S.oneidensis metabolism appears to be quite robust to environmentalchanges. Our study also demonstrates the merit of coupling GC-MS with 13CNMR for metabolic flux analysis to reduce the use of 13C labeledsubstrates and to obtain more accurate flux values.

Study the flashover voltage for outdoor polymer insulators under desert climatic conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L.S. Nasrat

2013-06-01

Results showed that flashover voltage reaches to 38 kV for samples without filler and 47 kV for samples containing 50% of ATH filler in dry condition. A comparison between inorganic fillers under various environmental conditions showed higher flashover voltage values for samples containing ATH filler than that of samples containing H3BO3 and Mg(OH2 fillers at all filler concentrations. Flashover voltage increases 24% by adding ATH filler for polyester samples under sandstorm conditions. Also, in this study, the effects of sandstorm, ultra violet (UV radiation, mechanical strength (compressive and tensile strengths and thermal performance with respect to surface of the sample under test have been investigated in detail.

Soil aquifer treatment of artificial wastewater under saturated conditions

KAUST Repository

Essandoh, H. M K; Tizaoui, Chedly; Mohamed, Mostafa H A; Amy, Gary L.; Brdjanovic, Damir

2011-01-01

A 2000 mm long saturated laboratory soil column was used to simulate soil aquifer treatment under saturated conditions to assess the removal of chemical and biochemical oxygen demand (COD and BOD), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), nitrogen

Neospora caninum infection in beef cattle reared under grazing conditions in north-central Mexico

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karina Mondragón-Zavala

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Objetive. To determine the seroprevalence of N. caninum antibodies and prevalence of parasite DNA in blood, and estimate the association between seroprevalence and the potential risk of some factors in beef cattle under grazing conditions in north-central Mexico. Materials and methods. Blood samples from 139 cows and only 10 bulls belonging to 13 farms were collected and evaluated by ELISA test to detect antibodies against N. caninum. Furthermore, to determine the presence of parasite DNA, nested PCR probe was performed on blood samples. Association between potential risk factors and seroprevalence was estimated. Results. Overall seroprevalence was 23% (35/149 samples, while the prevalence of parasite DNA in blood was 28% (42/149 samples. Of the 149 animals examined 28 (19% were positive to both tests (25 cows and 3 bulls. Concordance between tests was k = 0.63. All herds had seropositive animals with positive parasite DNA detection in blood. The only risk factor identified was the presence of dogs (OR= 2.65. Conclusions. This study showed that bovine neospososis should be considered as an important infectious disease in north-central Mexico herds. Therefore, an epidemiological control should be taken into consideration to avoid the negative effect of this disease on mexican beef industry.

Thoraco-pericardiotomy in two bovines under field condition

African Journals Online (AJOL)

dation with xylazine and local infiltration anesthesia. Small quantity of fluid from ... However, the treatment is un- satisfactory and most of the affected animals die within a period of 1-2 weeks. (Radostits et al ... at the farmer's door under field condition. Treatment for case I and case II: The animals were prepared for surgery.

Safety analysis of casks under extreme impact conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wieser, G.; Qiao, L.; Voelzke, H.; Wolff, D.; Droste, B.

2004-01-01

The determination of the inherent safety of casks under extreme impact conditions has been of increasing interest since the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. For nearly three decades BAM has been investigating cask safety under severe accident conditions like drop tests from more than 9 m onto different targets and without impact limiters as well as artificially damaged prototype casks. One of the most critical scenarios for a cask is the centric impact of a dynamic load onto the lid-seal system. This can be caused, for example, by a direct aircraft crash (or just its engine) as well as by an impact due to the collapse of a building, e.g. a nuclear facility storage hall. In this context BAM is developing methods to calculate the deformation of cask components and-with respect to leak-tightness-relative displacements between the metallic seals and their counterparts. This paper presents reflections on modelling of cask structures for finite-element analyses and discusses calculated results of stresses and deformations. Another important aspect is the behaviour of a cask under a lateral impact by aircraft or fragments of a building. Examples of the kinetic reaction (cask acceleration due to the fragments, subsequent contact with neighbouring structures like the ground, buildings or casks) are shown and discussed in correlation to cask stresses which are to be expected. (author)

Safety analysis of casks under extreme impact conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wieser, G.; Qiao Linan; Voelzke, H.; Wolff, D.; Droste, B.

2004-01-01

The determination of the inherent safety of casks also under extreme impact conditions has been of increasing interest since the terrorist attacks from 11th September 2001. For nearly three decades BAM has been investigating cask safety under severe accident conditions like drop tests from more than 9 m onto different targets and without impact limiters as well as artificially damaged prototype casks. One of the most critical scenarios for a cask is the centric impact of a dynamic load onto the lid seal system. This can be caused e.g. by direct aircraft crash or its engine as well as by an impact due to the collapse of a building e.g. a nuclear facility storage hall. In this context BAM is developing methods to calculate the deformation of cask components and - with respect to leak tightness - relative displacements between the metallic seals and their counterparts. This paper presents reflections on modelling of cask structures for Finite Element analyses and discusses calculated results of stresses and deformations. Another important aspect is the behaviour of a cask under a lateral impact by aircraft and fragments of a building. Examples of the kinetic reaction (cask acceleration due to the fragments, subsequent contact with neighbouring structures like ground, buildings or casks) are shown and discussed in correlation to cask stresses which are to be expected

Reliability analysis of emergency decay heat removal system of nuclear ship under various accident conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsuoka, Takeshi

1984-01-01

A reliability analysis is given for the emergency decay heat removal system of the Nuclear Ship ''Mutsu'' and the emergency sea water cooling system of the Nuclear Ship ''Savannah'', under ten typical nuclear ship accident conditions. Basic event probabilities under these accident conditions are estimated from literature survey. These systems of Mutsu and Savannah have almost the same reliability under the normal condition. The dispersive arrangement of a system is useful to prevent the reduction of the system reliability under the condition of an accident restricted in one room. As for the reliability of these two systems under various accident conditions, it is seen that the configuration and the environmental condition of a system are two main factors which determine the reliability of the system. Furthermore, it was found that, for the evaluation of the effectiveness of safety system of a nuclear ship, it is necessary to evaluate its reliability under various accident conditions. (author)

Characterization of power IGBTs under pulsed power conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dale, Gregory E [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Vangordon, James [UNIV OF MISSOURI; Kovaleski, Scott [UNIV OF MISSOURI

2009-01-01

The power insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) is used in many types of applications. Although the use of the power IGBT has been well characterized for many continuous operation power electronics applications, little published information is available regarding the performance of a given IGBT under pulsed power conditions. Additionally, component libraries in circuit simulation software packages have a finite number of IGBTs. This paper presents a process for characterizing the performance of a given power IGBT under pulsed power conditions. Specifically, signals up to 3.5 kV and 1 kA with 1-10 {micro}s pulse widths have been applied to a Powerex QIS4506001 IGBT. This process utilizes least squares curve fitting techniques with collected data to determine values for a set of modeling parameters. These parameters were used in the Oziemkiewicz implementation of the Hefner model for the IGBT that is utilized in some circuit simulation software packages. After the nominal parameter values are determined, they can be inserted into the Oziemkiewicz implementation to simulate a given IGBT.

A Study on Coastal Flooding and Risk Assessment under Climate Change in the Mid-Western Coast of Taiwan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tai-Wen Hsu

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This study integrated coastal watershed models and combined them with a risk assessment method to develop a methodology to investigate the impact resulting from coastal disasters under climate change. The mid-western coast of Taiwan suffering from land subsidence was selected as the demonstrative area for the vulnerability analysis based on the prediction of sea level rise (SLR, wave run-up, overtopping, and coastal flooding under the scenarios of the years from 2020 to 2039. Databases from tidal gauges and satellite images were used to analyze SLR using Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition (EEMD. Extreme wave condition and storm surge were estimated by numerical simulation using the Wind Wave Model (WWM and the Princeton Ocean Model (POM. Coastal inundation was then simulated via the WASH123D watershed model. The risk map of study areas based on the analyses of vulnerability and disaster were established using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP technique. Predictions of sea level rise, the maximum wave condition, and storm surge under the scenarios of 2020 to 2039 are presented. The results indicate that the sea level at the mid-western coast of Taiwan will rise by an average of 5.8 cm, equivalent to a rising velocity of 2.8 mm/year. The analysis indicates that the Wuqi, Lukang, Mailiao, and Taixi townships are susceptive, low resistant and low resilient and reach the high-risk level. This assessment provides important information for creating an adaption policy for the mid-western coast of Taiwan.

Methods for the risk assessment of rock bursts under the condition of the Upper Silesian coal basin; Methoden zur Bewertung des Risikos von Gebirgsschlaegen unter Bedingungen des oberschlesischen Kohlebeckens

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Myszkowski, Jacek [Forschungsanstalt fuer Gebirgsschlaege und Gebirgsmechanik BT, Katowice (Poland). Hauptinst. fuer Bergbau

2013-06-15

The assessment of the risk of rock burst in underground coal mines is associated with the forecasting, assessment and management of risks. The contribution under consideration presents methods for the risk assessment and prevention of rock bursts.

Groundwater flow modelling under ice sheet conditions. Scoping calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jaquet, O.; Namar, R.; Jansson, P.

2010-10-01

The potential impact of long-term climate changes has to be evaluated with respect to repository performance and safety. In particular, glacial periods of advancing and retreating ice sheet and prolonged permafrost conditions are likely to occur over the repository site. The growth and decay of ice sheets and the associated distribution of permafrost will affect the groundwater flow field and its composition. As large changes may take place, the understanding of groundwater flow patterns in connection to glaciations is an important issue for the geological disposal at long term. During a glacial period, the performance of the repository could be weakened by some of the following conditions and associated processes: - Maximum pressure at repository depth (canister failure). - Maximum permafrost depth (canister failure, buffer function). - Concentration of groundwater oxygen (canister corrosion). - Groundwater salinity (buffer stability). - Glacially induced earthquakes (canister failure). Therefore, the GAP project aims at understanding key hydrogeological issues as well as answering specific questions: - Regional groundwater flow system under ice sheet conditions. - Flow and infiltration conditions at the ice sheet bed. - Penetration depth of glacial meltwater into the bedrock. - Water chemical composition at repository depth in presence of glacial effects. - Role of the taliks, located in front of the ice sheet, likely to act as potential discharge zones of deep groundwater flow. - Influence of permafrost distribution on the groundwater flow system in relation to build-up and thawing periods. - Consequences of glacially induced earthquakes on the groundwater flow system. Some answers will be provided by the field data and investigations; the integration of the information and the dynamic characterisation of the key processes will be obtained using numerical modelling. Since most of the data are not yet available, some scoping calculations are performed using the

Groundwater flow modelling under ice sheet conditions. Scoping calculations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jaquet, O.; Namar, R. (In2Earth Modelling Ltd (Switzerland)); Jansson, P. (Dept. of Physical Geography and Quaternary Geology, Stockholm Univ., Stockholm (Sweden))

2010-10-15

The potential impact of long-term climate changes has to be evaluated with respect to repository performance and safety. In particular, glacial periods of advancing and retreating ice sheet and prolonged permafrost conditions are likely to occur over the repository site. The growth and decay of ice sheets and the associated distribution of permafrost will affect the groundwater flow field and its composition. As large changes may take place, the understanding of groundwater flow patterns in connection to glaciations is an important issue for the geological disposal at long term. During a glacial period, the performance of the repository could be weakened by some of the following conditions and associated processes: - Maximum pressure at repository depth (canister failure). - Maximum permafrost depth (canister failure, buffer function). - Concentration of groundwater oxygen (canister corrosion). - Groundwater salinity (buffer stability). - Glacially induced earthquakes (canister failure). Therefore, the GAP project aims at understanding key hydrogeological issues as well as answering specific questions: - Regional groundwater flow system under ice sheet conditions. - Flow and infiltration conditions at the ice sheet bed. - Penetration depth of glacial meltwater into the bedrock. - Water chemical composition at repository depth in presence of glacial effects. - Role of the taliks, located in front of the ice sheet, likely to act as potential discharge zones of deep groundwater flow. - Influence of permafrost distribution on the groundwater flow system in relation to build-up and thawing periods. - Consequences of glacially induced earthquakes on the groundwater flow system. Some answers will be provided by the field data and investigations; the integration of the information and the dynamic characterisation of the key processes will be obtained using numerical modelling. Since most of the data are not yet available, some scoping calculations are performed using the

Enhanced desorption of persistent organic pollutants from microplastics under simulated physiological conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bakir, Adil; Rowland, Steven J.; Thompson, Richard C.

2014-01-01

Microplastics have the potential to uptake and release persistent organic pollutants (POPs); however, subsequent transfer to marine organisms is poorly understood. Some models estimating transfer of sorbed contaminants to organisms neglect the role of gut surfactants under differing physiological conditions in the gut (varying pH and temperature), examined here. We investigated the potential for polyvinylchloride (PVC) and polyethylene (PE) to sorb and desorb 14 C-DDT, 14 C-phenanthrene (Phe), 14 C-perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and 14 C-di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP). Desorption rates of POPs were quantified in seawater and under simulated gut conditions. Influence of pH and temperature was examined in order to represent cold and warm blooded organisms. Desorption rates were faster with gut surfactant, with a further substantial increase under conditions simulating warm blooded organisms. Desorption under gut conditions could be up to 30 times greater than in seawater alone. Of the POP/plastic combinations examined Phe with PE gave the highest potential for transport to organisms. Highlights: • PVC and PE (200–250 μm) were able to sorb phenanthrene, DDT, PFOA and DEHP. • Desorption rates were faster using a gut surfactant compared to seawater alone. • Desorption rates were further enhanced at lower pH and higher temperature. • Plastic-POPs were ranked according to their potential to cause “harm”. -- Desorption rates of sorbed POPs from plastics were substantially enhanced under gut conditions specific of warm blooded organisms, suggesting potential transfer following ingestion

Biology of Dermacentor marginatus (Acari: Ixodidae under laboratory conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Mehdi Darvishi

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Objective: To investigate and survey the biology of Dermacentor marginatus (D. marginatus under laboratory conditions. Methods: In this investigation, D. marginatus adult ticks were collected from sheep in Semnan province. Then various developmental stages of D. marginatus including larvae, nymphs and adult males and females under laboratory condition were bred and their biology was scrutinized. Results: The requisite time to complete the life cycle of D. marginatus under controlled laboratory conditions for larvae (26 °C, 75% relative humidity and nymph (26 °C, 95% relative humidity moulting, was on average 92 d (range 75-104 d, including preoviposition and egg incubation (22.5 d, larvae incubation (20.5 d, nymphal stage (28 d along with male maturation (21 d. The index of conversion efficiency and the index of reproduction efficiency in females were 0.397 and 8.300, respectively. Conclusions: Although in this investigation, there was no meaningful correlation between preoviposition period and the weight of female ticks which were laid successfully. The significant linear relationship was fully observed between the weight of engorged female of D. marginatus and the number of eggs laid. The mean of preoviposition period from 5.4 d in autumn to 34.2 d in spring increased. The minimum weight of ticks with laying capacity was 69 mg and lighter ticks (21 mg either did not lay or if they did their eggs did not hatch.

Fungal diseases of tree stands under urbanized conditions of Moscow

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Smirnova Oksana G.

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Phytosanitary and ecological estimation of tree-stands has been con­ducted at the Forest Experimental Station of Moscow Agricultural Academy and parks of Northeast of Moscow in 2007-2011. Fomes fomentarius was proved to be a very serious pathogen of trees under conditions of Moscow, Piptoporus betulinus, Phellinus igniarius, and Fomitopsis pinicola also occurred and caused damage to trees. This rather bad phytosanitary situation depends on alarming ecological situation in Moscow. At the Forest Experimental Station of Moscow Agricultural Academy a number and cover of lichens decreased. In general, all trees in Moscow are in dynamic equilibrium with the urbanized environment. In connection with this, the following classification of tree-stands was proposed for the urbanized environment: 1 - healthy trees, 2 - affected trees which can be managed, 3 - dry woods, 3a - very diseased. Many tree-stands in investigated regions of Moscow are found to belong to the groups 2 and 3c. All tree-stands must be carefully monitored and managed in order to provide a well-timed decision on the support system for preservation of trees as ‘lungs of city’ and avoid unpredictable tree falling which put people and traffic at risk.

Consolidated bioprocessing strategy for ethanol production from Jerusalem artichoke tubers by Kluyveromyces marxianus under high gravity conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, W J; Chang, B L; Ren, J G; Liu, J P; Bai, F W; Li, Y Y

2012-01-01

Developing an innovative process for ethanol fermentation from Jerusalem artichoke tubers under very high gravity (VHG) conditions. A consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) strategy that integrated inulinase production, saccharification of inulin contained in Jerusalem artichoke tubers and ethanol production from sugars released from inulin by the enzyme was developed with the inulinase-producing yeast Kluyveromyces marxianus Y179 and fed-batch operation. The impact of inoculum age, aeration, the supplementation of pectinase and nutrients on the ethanol fermentation performance of the CBP system was studied. Although inulinase activities increased with the extension of the seed incubation time, its contribution to ethanol production was negligible because vigorously growing yeast cells harvested earlier carried out ethanol fermentation more efficiently. Thus, the overnight incubation that has been practised in ethanol production from starch-based feedstocks is recommended. Aeration facilitated the fermentation process, but compromised ethanol yield because of the negative Crabtree effect of the species, and increases the risk of contamination under industrial conditions. Therefore, nonaeration conditions are preferred for the CBP system. Pectinase supplementation reduced viscosity of the fermentation broth and improved ethanol production performance, particularly under high gravity conditions, but the enzyme cost should be carefully balanced. Medium optimization was performed, and ethanol concentration as high as 94·2 g l(-1) was achieved when 0·15 g l(-1) K(2) HPO(4) was supplemented, which presents a significant progress in ethanol production from Jerusalem artichoke tubers. A CBP system using K. marxianus is suitable for efficient ethanol production from Jerusalem artichoke tubers under VHG conditions. Jerusalem artichoke tubers are an alternative to grain-based feedstocks for ethanol production. The high ethanol concentration achieved using K. marxianus with the

Experimental investigation of activities and tolerance of denitrifying bacteria under alkaline and reducing condition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mine, Tatsuya; Mihara, Morihiro; Ooi, Takao

2000-07-01

In the geological disposal system of TRU wastes, nitrogen generation by denitrifying bacteria could provide significant impact on the assessment of this system, because nitrate contained in process concentrated liquid waste might be electron acceptor for denitrifying bacteria. In this study, the activities and tolerance of denitrifying under disposal condition were investigated. Pseudomonas denitrificans as denitrifying bacteria was used. The results showed that Pseudomonas denitrificans had activity under reducing condition, but under high pH condition (pH>9.5), the activity of Pseudomonas denitrificans was not detected. It is possible that the activity of Pseudomonas denitrificans would be low under disposal condition. (author)

Mechanism and kinetics of mineral weathering under acid conditions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Anbeek, C.

1994-01-01

This study deals with the relationships between crystal structure, grain diameter, surface morphology and dissolution kinetics for feldspar and quartz under acid conditions.

Intensively ground samples from large, naturally weathered mineral fragments are frequently used in

Practical conditions in the neutron diffraction under high pressure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kamigaki, Kazuo; Ohashi, Masayoshi

1993-01-01

Practical analysis is made on some conditions in utilizing neutrons for the study of atomistic structure of materials under high pressure. Investigation is made on the geometrical conditions; size of the specimen, width of slits, and the rate of extra-scattering. Experiments are performed on the effects of absorption by high pressure cell and the disturbance due to an overlapping of diffraction peaks. An observation is presented on the pressure-induced transformation in RbBr. (author)

A new model for friction under shock conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dambakizi F.

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This article is aimed at the developpement of a new model for friction under shock conditions. Thanks to a subgrid model and a specific Coulomb friction law, it takes into account the interface temperature and deformation but also the influence of asperities when the contact pressure is relatively low (≤ 3 GPa.

River flood risk in Jakarta under scenarios of future change

Science.gov (United States)

Budiyono, Yus; Aerts, Jeroen C. J. H.; Tollenaar, Daniel; Ward, Philip J.

2016-03-01

Given the increasing impacts of flooding in Jakarta, methods for assessing current and future flood risk are required. In this paper, we use the Damagescanner-Jakarta risk model to project changes in future river flood risk under scenarios of climate change, land subsidence, and land use change. Damagescanner-Jakarta is a simple flood risk model that estimates flood risk in terms of annual expected damage, based on input maps of flood hazard, exposure, and vulnerability. We estimate baseline flood risk at USD 186 million p.a. Combining all future scenarios, we simulate a median increase in risk of +180 % by 2030. The single driver with the largest contribution to that increase is land subsidence (+126 %). We simulated the impacts of climate change by combining two scenarios of sea level rise with simulations of changes in 1-day extreme precipitation totals from five global climate models (GCMs) forced by the four Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs). The results are highly uncertain; the median change in risk due to climate change alone by 2030 is a decrease by -46 %, but we simulate an increase in risk under 12 of the 40 GCM-RCP-sea level rise combinations. Hence, we developed probabilistic risk scenarios to account for this uncertainty. If land use change by 2030 takes places according to the official Jakarta Spatial Plan 2030, risk could be reduced by 12 %. However, if land use change in the future continues at the same rate as the last 30 years, large increases in flood risk will take place. Finally, we discuss the relevance of the results for flood risk management in Jakarta.

Attentional Demands of Balance Under Dual Task Conditions in Young Adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Monire Nobahar Ahari

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify the role of attentional process in postural control using choice reaction time task while changing the visual and proprioceptive cues under difficult balance task (standing on one-leg. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted by participating 20 young people (22.75±2.29. Each subject performed one-leg standing as balance task for each of the following 2 test conditions: free balance position (single task, and balancing while performing secondary cognitive task (choice reaction time task. Each test was carried out for each of the following 3 sensory conditions: on hard surface with open eyes, on hard surface with closed eyes and on foam surface with closed eyes. One way ANOVA was used for analysis. Results: Analyses of the task conditions didn’t show significant difference between single and dual task under two sensory conditions, in open and in closed eye on hard surface (P>0.05, but there was significant difference between single and dual tasks on soft foam with closed eyes [t(19=-2.391, P=0.027]. Discussion: Findings revealed that significant difference in balance performance of individuals under three different sensory conditions caused by reduction in base of support and this effect can be seen in dual task condition as well. Therefore it can be concluded that the nature of the primary task have the most influence on balance performance and this is not the effect of dual task condition.

Railway line capacity consumption of different railway signalling systems under scheduled and disturbed conditions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Goverde, R.M.P.; Corman, F.; D'Ariano, A.

2013-01-01

This paper evaluates the capacity consumption on a Dutch railway line both under scheduled and disturbed traffic conditions. For the scheduled condition the standard UIC compression method is used, while the computation of capacity consumption under disturbed conditions requires multiple simulation

Extinction risk under coloured environmental noise

OpenAIRE

Heino, M; Ripa, Jörgen; Kaitala, V

2000-01-01

Positively autocorrelated red environmental noise is characterized by a strong dependence of expected sample variance on sample length. This dependence has to be taken into account when assessing extinction risk under red and white uncorrelated environmental noise. To facilitate a comparison between red and white noise, their expected variances can be scaled to be equal, but only at a chosen time scale. We show with a simple one-dimensional population dynamics model that the different but equ...

Sealing of rotary drums for operation under pressurized conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shirvani, M.; Khanof, M. H.; Yousefi, M. R.; Sadighi, S.

2006-01-01

In practice, rotary drums are always designed for operation under vacuum conditions. In this paper, a novel technique is proposed for sealing the rotary drums under pressurized conditions. The proposed system is based on applying a secondary pressurized volume around the leaking gap of the drum. By controlling the pressure of this volume above the pressure of the drum, it will be possible to prevent from any leakage of gases to the ambient. The objective of a controller in this system is that the pressure of secondary volume be kept above the pressure of the drum in spite of the disturbances which may be exerted on the system by the wind outside the drum. The control system is also required to trace the variations in the drum pressure with the least fluctuations in the pressure difference among the drum and the volume

Optimal diving under the risk of predation.

Science.gov (United States)

Heithaus, Michael R; Frid, Alejandro

2003-07-07

Many air-breathing aquatic foragers may be killed by aerial or subsurface predators while recovering oxygen at the surface; yet the influence of predation risk on time allocation during dive cycles is little known in spite of numerous studies on optimal diving. We modeled diving behavior under the risk of predation at the surface. The relationship between time spent at the surface and the risk of death is predicted to influence the optimal surface interval, regardless of whether foragers accumulate energy at a constant rate while at the food patch, deplete food resources over the course of the dive, or must search for food during the dive. When instantaneous predation risk during a single surface interval decreases with time spent at the surface, a diver should increase its surface interval relative to that which maximizes energy intake, thereby increasing dive durations and reducing the number of surfacings per foraging bout. When instantaneous risk over a single surface interval does not change or increases with increasing time at the surface, divers should decrease their surface interval (and consequently their dive duration) relative to that which maximizes energy intake resulting in more dives per foraging bout. The fitness consequences of selecting a suboptimal surface interval vary with the risk function and the way divers harvest energy when at depth. Finally, predation risk during surface intervals should have important consequences for habitat selection and other aspects of the behavioral ecology of air-breathing aquatic organisms.

Cadmium removal by Euglena gracilis is enhanced under anaerobic growth conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Santiago-Martínez, M. Geovanni; Lira-Silva, Elizabeth; Encalada, Rusely; Pineda, Erika; Gallardo-Pérez, Juan Carlos [Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto Nacional de Cardiología (Mexico); Zepeda-Rodriguez, Armando [Facultad de Medicina, UNAM, Mexico City (Mexico); Moreno-Sánchez, Rafael; Saavedra, Emma [Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto Nacional de Cardiología (Mexico); Jasso-Chávez, Ricardo, E-mail: rjass_cardiol@yahoo.com.mx [Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto Nacional de Cardiología (Mexico)

2015-05-15

Highlights: • The protist Euglena gracilis had the ability to grow and remove large amounts of Cd{sup 2+} under anaerobic conditions. • High biomass was attained by combination of glycolytic and mitochondrial carbon sources. • Routes of degradation of glucose, glutamate and malate under anaerobic conditions in E. gracilis are described. • Biosorption was the main mechanism of Cd{sup 2+} removal in anaerobiosis, whereas the Cd{sup 2+} intracellularly accumulated was inactivated by thiol-molecules and polyphosphate. - Abstract: The facultative protist Euglena gracilis, a heavy metal hyper-accumulator, was grown under photo-heterotrophic and extreme conditions (acidic pH, anaerobiosis and with Cd{sup 2+}) and biochemically characterized. High biomass (8.5 × 10{sup 6} cells mL{sup −1}) was reached after 10 days of culture. Under anaerobiosis, photosynthetic activity built up a microaerophilic environment of 0.7% O{sub 2}, which was sufficient to allow mitochondrial respiratory activity: glutamate and malate were fully consumed, whereas 25–33% of the added glucose was consumed. In anaerobic cells, photosynthesis but not respiration was activated by Cd{sup 2+} which induced higher oxidative stress. Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were 20 times lower in control cells under anaerobiosis than in aerobiosis, although Cd{sup 2+} induced a higher MDA production. Cd{sup 2+} stress induced increased contents of chelating thiols (cysteine, glutathione and phytochelatins) and polyphosphate. Biosorption (90%) and intracellular accumulation (30%) were the mechanisms by which anaerobic cells removed Cd{sup 2+} from medium, which was 36% higher versus aerobic cells. The present study indicated that E. gracilis has the ability to remove Cd{sup 2+} under anaerobic conditions, which might be advantageous for metal removal in sediments from polluted water bodies or bioreactors, where the O{sub 2} concentration is particularly low.

Cadmium removal by Euglena gracilis is enhanced under anaerobic growth conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santiago-Martínez, M. Geovanni; Lira-Silva, Elizabeth; Encalada, Rusely; Pineda, Erika; Gallardo-Pérez, Juan Carlos; Zepeda-Rodriguez, Armando; Moreno-Sánchez, Rafael; Saavedra, Emma; Jasso-Chávez, Ricardo

2015-01-01

Highlights: • The protist Euglena gracilis had the ability to grow and remove large amounts of Cd 2+ under anaerobic conditions. • High biomass was attained by combination of glycolytic and mitochondrial carbon sources. • Routes of degradation of glucose, glutamate and malate under anaerobic conditions in E. gracilis are described. • Biosorption was the main mechanism of Cd 2+ removal in anaerobiosis, whereas the Cd 2+ intracellularly accumulated was inactivated by thiol-molecules and polyphosphate. - Abstract: The facultative protist Euglena gracilis, a heavy metal hyper-accumulator, was grown under photo-heterotrophic and extreme conditions (acidic pH, anaerobiosis and with Cd 2+ ) and biochemically characterized. High biomass (8.5 × 10 6 cells mL −1 ) was reached after 10 days of culture. Under anaerobiosis, photosynthetic activity built up a microaerophilic environment of 0.7% O 2 , which was sufficient to allow mitochondrial respiratory activity: glutamate and malate were fully consumed, whereas 25–33% of the added glucose was consumed. In anaerobic cells, photosynthesis but not respiration was activated by Cd 2+ which induced higher oxidative stress. Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were 20 times lower in control cells under anaerobiosis than in aerobiosis, although Cd 2+ induced a higher MDA production. Cd 2+ stress induced increased contents of chelating thiols (cysteine, glutathione and phytochelatins) and polyphosphate. Biosorption (90%) and intracellular accumulation (30%) were the mechanisms by which anaerobic cells removed Cd 2+ from medium, which was 36% higher versus aerobic cells. The present study indicated that E. gracilis has the ability to remove Cd 2+ under anaerobic conditions, which might be advantageous for metal removal in sediments from polluted water bodies or bioreactors, where the O 2 concentration is particularly low

Measuring Systemic Risk of Banking in Indonesia: Conditional Value at Risk Model Application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Harjum Muharam

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Systemic risk is a risk of collapse of the financial system that would cause the financial system is not functioning properly. Measurement of systemic risk in the financial institutions, especially banks are crucial, because banks are highly vulnerable to financial crisis. In this study, to estimate the conditional value-at-risk (CoVaR used quantile regression. Samples in this study of 9 banks have total assets of the largest in Indonesia. Testing the correlation between VaR and ΔCoVaR in this study using Spearman correlation and Kendall's Tau. There are five banks that have a significant correlation between VaR and ΔCoVaR, meanwhile four others banks in the sample did not have a significant correlation. However, the correlation coefficient is below 0.50, which indicates that there is a weak correlation between VaR and CoVaR.DOI: 10.15408/sjie.v6i2.5296

Growth of microbial mixed cultures under anaerobic, alkaline conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wenk, M.

1993-09-01

Cement and concrete are the most important engineered barrier materials in a repository for low- and intermediate-level waste and thus represent the most significant component of the total disposal inventory. Based on the chemical composition of the concrete used in the repository and the groundwater fluxes in the modelled host rock, it is to be expected that the pH in the near vicinity of the repository could exceed a value of 10.5 for more than a million years. The groundwater in the repository environment also has a limited carbon concentration. Since microorganisms will be present in a repository and can even find suitable living conditions within the waste itself, investigations were carried out in order to establish the extent to which microbial activity is possible under the extreme conditions of the repository near-field. For the investigations, alkalophilic cultures were enriched from samples from alkaline habitats and from Valanginian Marl. Anaerobic bacteria with fermentative, sulfate-reducing and methanogenic metabolism were selected. The growth and activity of the mixed cultures were studied under alkaline conditions and the dependence on pH and carbon concentration determined. All the mixed cultures investigated are alkalophilic. The optimum growth range for the cultures is between pH 9.0 and pH 10.0. The activity limit for the fermentative mixed culture is at pH 12, for the sulfate-reducers at pH 11 and for the methanogens at pH 10.5. Given the limited supply of carbon, the mixed cultures can only grow under slightly alkaline conditions. Only the fermentative cultures are capable of surviving with limited carbon supply at pH 13. (author) 24 figs., 18 tabs., 101 refs

Triaxial slide-hold-slide shear experiment of sedimentary rock under drain condition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kishida, Kiyoshi; Yano, Takao; Elsworth, Derek; Yasuhara, Hideaki; Nakashima, Shinichiro

2011-01-01

When discussing the mechanical and hydro-mechanical properties of rock masses under the long-term holding, the variation of rock structure and the change of shear band condition should be discussed in considering the effect of thermal and chemical influences. In this research, the triaxial shear experiment under drain condition was conducted through sedimentary rock, and in the residual stress state, the slide-hold-slide processes were applied to these triaxial experiments. The experiments were carried out in 3 kinds of confining conditions and 2 kinds of thermal conditions. Consequently, the healing phenomena can be observed and the shear strength recovery is also confirmed in process of the holding time. (author)

SSYST, Modular System for Transient Fuel Rod Behaviour Under Accident Condition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gulden, W.; Meyder, R.; Borgwaldt, H.

1987-01-01

1 - Description of problem or function: SSYST is a code system for analyzing transient fuel rod behaviour under off-normal conditions, developed jointly by the Institut fuer Kernenergetik und Energie-systeme (IKE), Stuttgart, and Kernforschungszentrum Karlsruhe (KfK) under contract for the Projekt Nukleare Sicherheit (PNS) at KfK. Main differences versus codes with similar applications are: (1) an open-ended modular code organisation; (2) a preference for simple models, wherever possible. While feature (1) makes SSYST a very flexible tool, easily adapted to changing requirements, feature (2) leads to short execution times. The analysis of transient rod behaviour under LOCA boundary conditions takes 2 minutes CPU time on IBM 3033, so that extensive parametric studies are feasible. Main differences between SSYST-3 and previous versions are related to a general clean-up of the code system, which reduces the implementation effort: - advanced modules for cladding deformation and oxidation and reflooding conditions are included; - an input processor thoroughly checks all input data

Tem holder for sample transfer under reaction conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Damsgaard, Christian Danvad; Zandbergen, Henny W.; Wagner, Jakob Birkedal

Environmental transmission electron microscopy (ETEM) studies are usually performed using conventional sample holders in a dedicated ETEM [1] or in a traditional TEM by use of a dedicated high-pressure cell sample holder [2]. In both cases, the setup defines the conditions regarding gas, pressure......]. Furthermore, dedicated transfer holders have been used to transfer catalyst samples between reactor set-ups and TEM at room temperature in inert atmosphere [5]. To take the full advantage of complementary in situ techniques, transfer under reactions conditions is essential. This study introduces the in situ...... transfer concept by use of a dedicated TEM transfer holder capable of enclosing the sample in a gaseous environment at temperatures up to approx. 900C. By oxidation and reduction experiments of Cu nanoparticles it is shown possible to keep the reaction conditions during transfer outside the microscope...

Investigation of the mechanical properties of organoplastic under shock wave loading conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Bragov, A. M.; Igumnov, L. A.; Konstantinov, A. Yu; Lomunov, A. K.

2018-04-01

The paper presents results of dynamic tests of a typical representative of new composite and damping materials: organoplastics. Compression testing was performed using the traditional Kolsky method and its original modification. The strength and deformation properties of organoplastics under conditions of uniaxial stress and uniaxial deformation were studied. When the organoplastic is compressed transversely to the Kevlar fabric layers under conditions of a uniaxial stress state, the material begins to break down (to lose the layer cohesion) at a stress of about 200 MPa, while under the conditions of uniaxial strain, it retains its apparent integrity at stresses up to 500 MPa. The small value of the lateral thrust factor indicates a large internal strength of the material in tension in the radial direction.

Behavior of LWR fuel elements under accident conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Albrecht, H.; Bocek, M.; Erbacher, F.; Fiege, A.; Fischer, M.; Hagen, S.; Hofmann, P.; Holleck, H.; Karb, E.; Leistikow, S.; Melang, S.; Ondracek, G.; Thuemmler, F.; Wiehr, K.

1977-01-01

In the frame of the German reactor safety research program, the Kernforschungszentrum Karlsruhe is carrying out a comprehensive program on the behavior of LWR fuel elements under a variety of power cooling mismatch conditions in particular during loss-of-coolant accidents. The major objectives are to establish a detailed quantitative understanding of fuel rod failures mechanisms and their thresholds, to evaluate the safety margins of power reactor cores under accident conditions and to investigate the feedback of fuel rod failures on the efficiency of emergency core cooling systems. This detailed quantitative understanding is achieved through extensive basic and integral experiments and is incorporated in a fuel behavior code. On the basis of these results the design of power reactor fuel elements and of safety devices can be further improved. The results of investigations on the inelastic deformation (ballooning) behavior of Zircaloy 4 cladding at LOCA temperatures in oxidizing atmosphere are presented. Depending upon strain rate and temperature superplastic deformation behavior was observed. In the equation of state of Zry 4 the strain rate sensitivity index depends strongly upon strain and in the superplastic region upon sample anisotropy. Oxidation kinetics experiments with Zry-tubes at 900-1300 0 C showed that the Baker-Just correlation describes the reality quite conservative. Therefore a reduction of the amount of Zry oxidation can be assumed in the course of a LOCA. The external oxidation of Zry-cladding by steam as well as internal oxidation by the oxygen in oxide fuel and fission products (Cs, I, Te) have an influence on the strain and rupture behavior of Zry-cladding at LOCA temperatures. In out-of-pile and inpile experiments the mechanical and thermal behavior of fuel rods during the blowdown, the heatup and the reflood phases of a LOCA are investigated under representative and controlled thermohydraulic conditions. The task of the inpile experiments is

Prospect relativity: how choice options influence decision under risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Stewart, Neil; Chater, Nick; Stott, Henry P; Reimers, Stian

2003-03-01

In many theories of decision under risk (e.g., expected utility theory, rank-dependent utility theory, and prospect theory), the utility of a prospect is independent of other options in the choice set. The experiments presented here show a large effect of the available options, suggesting instead that prospects are valued relative to one another. The judged certainty equivalent for a prospect is strongly influenced by the options available. Similarly, the selection of a preferred prospect is strongly influenced by the prospects available. Alternative theories of decision under risk (e.g., the stochastic difference model, multialternative decision field theory, and range frequency theory), where prospects are valued relative to one another, can provide an account of these context effects.

Degradation in perovskite solar cells stored under different environmental conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Chauhan, Abhishek K.; Kumar, Pankaj

2017-08-01

Investigations carried out on the degradation of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) stored in different open air environmental conditions are reported here. The solar cells were stored in the open in the dark inside the laboratory (relative humidity 47  ±  5%, temperature 23  ±  4 °C), under compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) illumination (irradiance 10 mW cm2, relative humidity 47  ±  5%, temperature 23  ±  4 °C) and under natural sunlight outside the laboratory. In the outdoor storage situation the surrounding conditions varied from time to time and the environmental conditions during the day (irradiance 100 mW/cm2, relative humidity ~18%, temperature ~45 °C at noon) were entirely different from those at night (irradiance 0 mW/cm2, relative humidity ~66%, temperature ~16 °C at midnight). The photovoltaic parameters were measured from time to time inside the laboratory as per the International Summit on Organic Photovoltaic Stability (ISOS) protocols. All the photovoltaic parameters, such as short circuit current density (J sc), open circuit voltage (V oc), fill factor (FF) and power conversion efficiency (PCE), of the solar cells stored outdoors decayed more rapidly than those stored under CFL or in the dark. The solar cells stored in the dark exhibited maximum stability. While the encapsulated solar cells stored outdoors were completely dead after about 560 h, the solar cells stored under CFL illumination retained  >60% of their initial efficiency even after 1100 h. However, the solar cells stored in the dark and tested up to ~1100 h did not show any degradation in PCE but on the contrary exhibited slight improvement, and this improvement was mainly because of improvement in their V oc. Rapid degradation in the open air outside the laboratory under direct sunlight compared with the dark and CFL storage has been attributed to high temperature during the day, high humidity at night, high solar illumination intensity and the

Risk of Adverse Health Outcomes and Decrements in Performance Due to In-flight Medical Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Antonsen,Erik

2017-01-01

The drive to undertake long-duration space exploration missions at greater distances from Earth gives rise to many challenges concerning human performance under extreme conditions. At NASA, the Human Research Program (HRP) has been established to investigate the specific risks to astronaut health and performance presented by space exploration, in addition to developing necessary countermeasures and technology to reduce risk and facilitate safer, more productive missions in space (NASA Human Research Program 2009). The HRP is divided into five subsections, covering behavioral health, space radiation, habitability, and other areas of interest. Within this structure is the ExMC Element, whose research contributes to the overall development of new technologies to overcome the challenges of expanding human exploration and habitation of space. The risk statement provided by the HRP to the ExMC Element states: "Given that medical conditions/events will occur during human spaceflight missions, there is a possibility of adverse health outcomes and decrements in performance in mission and for long term health" (NASA Human Research Program 2016). Within this risk context, the Exploration Medical Capabilities (ExMC) Element is specifically concerned with establishing evidenced-based methods of monitoring and maintaining astronaut health. Essential to completing this task is the advancement in techniques that identify, prevent, and treat any health threats that may occur during space missions. The ultimate goal of the ExMC Element is to develop and demonstrate a pathway for medical system integration into vehicle and mission design to mitigate the risk of medical issues. Integral to this effort is inclusion of an evidence-based medical and data handling system appropriate for long-duration, exploration-class missions. This requires a clear Concept of Operations, quantitative risk metrics or other tools to address changing risk throughout a mission, and system scoping and system

Reductive Dechlorination of Trichloroethylene and Tetrachloroethylene under Aerobic Conditions in a Sediment Column

OpenAIRE

1994-01-01

Biodegradation of trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene under aerobic conditions was studied in a sediment column. Cumulative mass balances indicated 87 and 90% removal for trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene, respectively. These studies suggest the potential for simultaneous aerobic and anaerobic biotransformation processes under bulk aerobic conditions.

Assessing the Risk Relevance of Accounting Variables in Diverse Economic conditions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brimble, M.; Hodgson, A.

2005-01-01

This paper examines the association between accounting information and systematic (beta) risk. We extend previous research by using an updated data set, a range of risk measures that adjust for different market and time-varying conditions, and by examining whether the long-run association has

Biotransformation of pharmaceuticals under nitrification, nitratation and heterotrophic conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fernandez-Fontaina, E.; Gomes, I.B.; Aga, D.S.; Omil, F.; Lema, J.M.; Carballa, M.

2016-01-01

The effect of nitrification, nitratation and heterotrophic conditions on the biotransformation of several pharmaceuticals in a highly enriched nitrifying activated sludge was evaluated in this study by selective activation of ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB), nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB) and heterotrophic bacteria. Nitrifiers displayed a noticeable capacity to process ibuprofen due to hydroxylation by ammonia monooxygenase (AMO) to produce 2-hydroxy-ibuprofen. Naproxen was also biotransformed under nitrifying conditions. On the other hand, heterotrophic bacteria present in the nitrifying activated sludge (NAS) biotransformed sulfamethoxazole. In contrast, both nitrifying and heterotrophic activities were ineffective against diclofenac, diazepam, carbamazepine and trimethoprim. Similar biotransformation rates of erythromycin, roxithromycin and fluoxetine were observed under all conditions tested. Overall, results from this study give more evidence on the role of the different microbial communities present in activated sludge reactors on the biological removal of pharmaceuticals. - Highlights: • The removal of pharmaceuticals in nitrifying activated sludge (NAS) was studied. • Nitrifying activity increases biotransformation rate of ibuprofen and naproxen. • Hydroxylation of ibuprofen by ammonia monooxygenase of ammonia oxidizing bacteria • Heterotrophic activity enhances biotransformation of sulfamethoxazole in NAS. • Recalcitrance of trimethoprim, diclofenac, carbamazepine and diazepam in NAS

Biotransformation of pharmaceuticals under nitrification, nitratation and heterotrophic conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fernandez-Fontaina, E., E-mail: eduardo.fernandez.fontaina@usc.es [Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Technology, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela (Spain); Gomes, I.B. [Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Technology, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela (Spain); Aga, D.S. [Department of Chemistry, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14260 (United States); Omil, F.; Lema, J.M.; Carballa, M. [Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Technology, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela (Spain)

2016-01-15

The effect of nitrification, nitratation and heterotrophic conditions on the biotransformation of several pharmaceuticals in a highly enriched nitrifying activated sludge was evaluated in this study by selective activation of ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB), nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB) and heterotrophic bacteria. Nitrifiers displayed a noticeable capacity to process ibuprofen due to hydroxylation by ammonia monooxygenase (AMO) to produce 2-hydroxy-ibuprofen. Naproxen was also biotransformed under nitrifying conditions. On the other hand, heterotrophic bacteria present in the nitrifying activated sludge (NAS) biotransformed sulfamethoxazole. In contrast, both nitrifying and heterotrophic activities were ineffective against diclofenac, diazepam, carbamazepine and trimethoprim. Similar biotransformation rates of erythromycin, roxithromycin and fluoxetine were observed under all conditions tested. Overall, results from this study give more evidence on the role of the different microbial communities present in activated sludge reactors on the biological removal of pharmaceuticals. - Highlights: • The removal of pharmaceuticals in nitrifying activated sludge (NAS) was studied. • Nitrifying activity increases biotransformation rate of ibuprofen and naproxen. • Hydroxylation of ibuprofen by ammonia monooxygenase of ammonia oxidizing bacteria • Heterotrophic activity enhances biotransformation of sulfamethoxazole in NAS. • Recalcitrance of trimethoprim, diclofenac, carbamazepine and diazepam in NAS.

Method of radiation degradation of PTFE under vacuum conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Korenev, Sergey E-mail: sergey_korenev@steris.com

2004-10-01

A new method of radiation degradation of Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) under vacuum conditions is considered in this report. The combination of glow gas discharge and electrical surface discharge (on surface and inside PTFE) increases the efficiency of thermal-radiation degradation. The main mechanism of this degradation method consists of the breaking of C-C and C-F bonds. The vacuum conditions allow decreasing of the concentration of toxic compounds, such as a HF. Experimental results for degradation of PTFE are presented.

Method of radiation degradation of PTFE under vacuum conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Korenev, Sergey

2004-09-01

A new method of radiation degradation of Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) under vacuum conditions is considered in this report. The combination of glow gas discharge and electrical surface discharge (on surface and inside PTFE) increases the efficiency of thermal-radiation degradation. The main mechanism of this degradation method consists of the breaking of C-C and C-F bonds. The vacuum conditions allow decreasing of the concentration of toxic compounds, such as a HF. Experimental results for degradation of PTFE are presented.

Evaluation of Sugar Beet (Beta vulgaris L. Genotypes for Their Trait Associations under Saline Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B Bashiri

2015-08-01

Full Text Available To evaluate sugar-beet genotypes for their trait associations, two separate RCBD experiments with three replications were conducted both under non-saline (normal and saline conditions at the Agricultural Research of Miandoab. Analysis of variance of the data collected showed that there were significant differences among genotypes for all traits studied under non-saline condition. But, differences of genotypes under saline condition were significant only for root yield, root potassium content, sugar extraction coefficient, impure and pure (white sugar yields. Salinity stress, in this study, reduced root potassium content, root yield, sugar extraction coefficient, impure and pure (white sugar yields. Mean comparisons of genotypes indicated that root yield of all genotypes, under non-saline condition, were higher than those of under saline one. As whole, genotypes number 1 and 2 produced higher root yields, impure and pure sugar yields respectively, under both saline and non-saline conditions. Based on the results obtained it was revealed that regression coefficients for the traits under study were significant. Step-wise regression and path coefficient analyses also indicated that traits like root yield, pure sugar and root nitrogen contents highly affected white sugar yield under non-saline conditions.

Costs, effects and implementation of routine data emergency admission risk prediction models in primary care for patients with, or at risk of, chronic conditions: a systematic review protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Kingston, Mark Rhys; Evans, Bridie Angela; Nelson, Kayleigh; Hutchings, Hayley; Russell, Ian; Snooks, Helen

2016-03-01

Emergency admission risk prediction models are increasingly used to identify patients, typically with one or more chronic conditions, for proactive management in primary care to avoid admissions, save costs and improve patient experience. To identify and review the published evidence on the costs, effects and implementation of emergency admission risk prediction models in primary care for patients with, or at risk of, chronic conditions. We shall search for studies of healthcare interventions using routine data-generated emergency admission risk models. We shall report: the effects on emergency admissions and health costs; clinician and patient views; and implementation findings. We shall search ASSIA, CINAHL, the Cochrane Library, HMIC, ISI Web of Science, MEDLINE and Scopus from 2005, review references in and citations of included articles, search key journals and contact experts. Study selection, data extraction and quality assessment will be performed by two independent reviewers. No ethical permissions are required for this study using published data. Findings will be disseminated widely, including publication in a peer-reviewed journal and through conferences in primary and emergency care and chronic conditions. We judge our results will help a wide audience including primary care practitioners and commissioners, and policymakers. CRD42015016874; Pre-results. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Characteristic of local parameter of bubbly flow in rectangular channel under inclined and rolling conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yan Changqi; Jin Guangyuan; Sun Licheng; Wang Yang

2015-01-01

Characteristics of local parameters of bubbly flow were investigated in rectangular channel (40 mm × 3 mm) under inclined and rolling conditions. Under vertical condition, the distribution type 'wall peak' and 'core peak' are observed, and 'core peak' exists when the liquid superficial velocity is low and the gas superficial velocity is high. Under inclined condition, the peaks of two distribution types get strengthened at the top of the channel, and weakened at the bottom. Under rolling condition, the peaks of two distribution types get strengthened compared with the same angle under inclined condition when the angle is getting larger. The influence from rolling motion gets stronger on the peak of two distribution types when the rolling movement is more violent. (authors)

Toxicity assessment of TiO2 nanoparticles in zebrafish embryos under different exposure conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clemente, Z.; Castro, V.L.S.S.; Moura, M.A.M.; Jonsson, C.M.; Fraceto, L.F.

2014-01-01

Highlights: •Nano-TiO 2 accelerated hatching of the larvae. •Exposure to anatase/rutile mixture under UV light altered the equilibrium and survival of the larvae. •Nano-TiO 2 caused alterations in the activities of CAT and GST. -- Abstract: The popularity of TiO 2 nanoparticles (nano-TiO 2 ) lies in their wide range of nanotechnological applications, together with low toxicity. Meanwhile, recent studies have shown that the photocatalytic properties of this material can result in alterations in their behavior in the environment, causing effects that have not yet been fully elucidated. The objective of this study was to evaluate the toxicity of two formulations of nano-TiO 2 under different illumination conditions, using an experimental model coherent with the principle of the three Rs of alternative animal experimentation (reduction, refinement, and replacement). Embryos of the fish Danio rerio were exposed for 96 h to different concentrations of nano-TiO 2 in the form of anatase (TA) or an anatase/rutile mixture (TM), under either visible light or a combination of visible and ultraviolet light (UV). The acute toxicity and sublethal parameters evaluated included survival rates, malformation, hatching, equilibrium, and overall length of the larvae, together with biochemical biomarkers (specific activities of catalase (CAT), glutathione S-transferase (GST), and acid phosphatase (AP)). Both TA and TM caused accelerated hatching of the larvae. Under UV irradiation, there was greater mortality of the larvae of the groups exposed to TM, compared to those exposed to TA. Exposure to TM under UV irradiation altered the equilibrium of the larvae. Alterations in the activities of CAT and GST were indicative of oxidative stress, although no clear dose-response relationship was observed. The effects of nano-TiO 2 appeared to depend on both the type of formulation and the illumination condition. The findings contribute to elucidation of the factors involved in the toxicity

How do Changes in Hydro-Climate Conditions Alter the Risk of Infection With Fasciolosis?

Science.gov (United States)

Beltrame, L.; Dunne, T.; Rose, H.; Walker, J.; Morgan, E.; Vickerman, P.; Wagener, T.

2017-12-01